Coolsville Central: The Mystery Machine
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Fifth entry to my Coolsville Central series & sequel to Two Silent Witnesses! Mystery Inc. travels to Gotham City after winning a contest, but a mess-up at the car rental subsequently leads them on a wild-goose chase as they are relentlessly pursued by Gotham City police. Meanwhile, a case of police brutality caught on tape has Coolsville on edge. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**Author's note: Here's the next installment of my _Coolsville Central_ series, folks!  
**

 **This story is based on the 2013 Paul Welker movie _Vehicle 19_ , and will tell the story on how Mystery Inc. got the Mystery Machine.**

 **This is also the very first instance where Mystery Inc. teams up with Batman during the former's trip to Gotham City, hence the reason why this story is in the Batman and Scooby-Doo crossover section.**

 **I don't own Scooby-Doo or Batman. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does for the former while DC Comics does for the latter.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Prologue

 _August 2, 2011_

It has been more than a year since Daphne was kidnapped by a trio of embittered former employees of Blake Enterprises with support from a corrupt police lieutenant for ransom, only to be rescued by the rest of the gang, who were able to do so with the help of Tom and Jerry.

In the year since the kidnapping, life went on as usual for the gang, and they all returned to Coolsville Central High School in the September after the summer of Daphne's kidnapping, attending Grade 10 as sophomores.

It was also in the year since the kidnapping that the gang solved a few more mysteries, and in spite of a few mishaps, each of the gang's parents eventually warmed to their mystery-solving hobby, though they've continued to urge caution.

After Shaggy turned 16 in April, he applied to get his driver's license and after going through the driving tests, he eventually received his driver's license.

Fred will eventually follow suit when he turned 16 in late June, and from time to time, the boys will practice driving with their parents' cars and drive around.

In the meantime, Shaggy's father Sam Rogers received another promotion a couple months after the Blake kidnapping case, where his coordination of another anti-corruption sting led to his promotion to Deputy Chief, which placed him just two ranks below Chief of Police Gil Mason.

Upon his promotion, Sam became the new Director of the Detective Bureau, replacing Deputy Chief Llewelyn Storch upon his retirement, where he reports directly to Assistant Chief Derek Harewood as a bureau commander rather than as Harewood's assistant.

This promotion gave Sam more authority over the operations of the Detective Bureau, where he moved to reverse a lot of the changes former Deputy Chief JP Miller made during his tenure as Director of the Detective Bureau.

As Director of the Detective Bureau, Sam is in charge of not just Major Crimes Division, but also other divisions responsible for police investigations, such as the Forensics and Technical Investigations Division, the Personnel Support Division as well as Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Division.

After appointed Director of the Detective Bureau following his promotion, Sam made extensive leadership changes to the divisions under the Detective Bureau.

First off, Captain Brian Crowley was reinstated as commanding officer of the Major Crimes Division after he was ousted by Miller, who appointed Captain James Kenny to the post.

Kenny subsequently had his badge stripped on Sam's orders after the Blue Falcon's anti-corruption files have extensive red flags on him, not to mention that he was known for his racist views that frequently put him on a collision course with not just Lieutenant Nelson McCormick, but also Sergeant Nathaniel Hughes and Detective Charlie Chan.

Sam will never forget the moment when he demanded Kenny's badge and the captain attempted to turn the tables by pulling a gun.

The moment Kenny pulled his gun, a falcon-shaped boomerang suddenly appeared out of nowhere and knocked the gun off his hand.

Turning towards where the boomerang had came from, nothing could've prepared Kenny for what will happen next.

Sam backed out of the way just as the Blue Falcon tackled Kenny and slammed him against the wall in Sam's office, grabbing the corrupt captain by the collar.

"Let...let go...of me..." Kenny choked as the Blue Falcon glared at him intensively. "You...have...no right...to...be...here..."

"And you have no right to disobey Chief Rogers' orders and pull a gun on him, you useless, sorry excuse of a police officer!" BF gritted his teeth as he slammed Kenny onto the wall again while Sam folded his arms. "I've got extensive files on you, Captain, and they're painting a bleak picture on your future."

"Yes." Sam nodded. "You're looking at at least 15 years behind bars, Kenny, for corruption, fraud and extortion."

"Not to mention your prejudiced views on ethnic minorities strips away your right to wear a badge, scum." BF added. "In a society where we're interacting more people of different races, religion and ethnic groups, people like you are holding up progress on the nation's future."

"In addition to encouraging more cases of miscarriage of justice thanks to your prejudiced views." Sam added. "And I have no intention of having the likes of you infect my bureau of your racism."

"Now get up on your feet and remember where you've hidden your stuff." BF said as he let go of Kenny, causing him to fall onto the floor as he catches his breath. "If you misplaced them, I will be there and I won't be so pleasant the next time we meet."

As Kenny catches his breath, BF walked by Sam, who nodded.

"Thanks." He said to BF.

"No problem." BF nodded back.

Within seconds, two police officers stormed into Sam's office.

"You called, Chief?" The first officer asked.

"Yes." Sam nodded before turning to Kenny and added, "Escort Captain James Kenny out of this building and to Hanna-Barbera Court, where he is to have an appointment with District Attorney Skip Jones. And tell him that Kenny is no longer welcomed to this building."

"Yes, sir." The two officers nodded before proceeding to grab Kenny.

"You blasted son of a gun." Kenny said to Sam as he got up, escorted by the two officers. "I'll have your badge for your allowing the brutality of that vigilante."

"And you better be quick about that, because I heard the Blue Falcon doesn't like to meet criminals twice." Sam replied evenly. "Oh, is he going to be grumpy and mad when he sees you again."

Kenny huffed before the two officers prepared to drag him out of Sam's office, only for Sam to clear his throat.

"Your badge, captain." Sam said as he held his hand out. The stern look on his face tells Kenny that he has no time to waste.

Grumbling, the disgraced captain clipped his badge off his belt and handed it to Sam before the two officers dragged him away.

Anyways, another division targetted by Sam for leadership change was the Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Division, where he approved Lieutenant Daniel McBride's promotion to captain and handpicked him to command the division, replacing Captain Angus Scheer, who was placed in command of the division by Miller.

McBride was the senior patrol sergeant from the East Coolsville Division, where Sam initially worked at as detective commander when he was transferred back from New York in 2001.

Following Sam's promotion and transfer to Major Crimes Division, McBride was transferred to the Guns and Gangs Division, which was renamed as the Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Division in 2004 after then-Deputy Chief Harewood, as Director of the Detective Bureau, approved the GGD's merger with the Narcotics Division.

Anyways, like Kenny, Scheer became a victim of Sam's anti-corruption drive, especially after as many as 78 officers assigned to the Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Division were implicated in some form of misconduct in a scale not seen since the Rampart scandal of Los Angeles in the late 1990s.

Scheer was found to have kept a blind eye on the officers' corruption, even participating in the fabrication of evidence and covered up evidence of the activities.

McBride never had a good working relationship with Scheer after he was brought in from the South Coolsville Division to command GGND. In fact, McBride's concerns on the officers' conduct fell onto deaf ears when he went to Scheer to express concern.

Miller's replacement Storch did act on McBride's concerns, ordering an internal inquiry, though Storch himself was unsatisfied by the investigation outcome conducted by Internal Affairs.

It took the shooting death of an unfortunate bystander to cause a public outcry that led to an outside commission appointed by the DA's office to investigate McBride's allegations, resulting in the scandal blowing up.

By the time Sam became the Director of the Detective Bureau, his first act was to order an investigation into Scheer's role in the scandal, an investigation that ultimately costed Scheer his badge as Sam, too, ordered his dismissal.

In the same time, though, Sam was amazed by how Mason was able to hang onto his job as police chief in spite of the scale in the scandal.

After all, over in Los Angeles, the police chief that oversaw the department during the Rampart scandal didn't have his contract renewed and got replaced in 2001.

At the thought about Mason, Sam was beginning to wonder if his contact's contact's warning on Mason may be justified.

After all, Mason was a deputy commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department prior to his transfer to Coolsville, and the GCPD was also known for its rampant corruption prior to the ascension of his contact.

Anyways, Sam's promotion to deputy chief and appointment as Director of the Detective Bureau was, once again, met with annoyance from his nemesis Deputy Chief Rupert Gosnell, the Director of Internal Affairs.

Sam figured that Gosnell was still smarting over his being passed over for appointment as chief in favour of retaining Mason as the city's top cop.

However, Gosnell had another reason to be smarting by Sam's promotion, because not long after Sam was appointed as Director of the Detective Bureau, he requested the city's Auditor General to conduct an audit in the activities of Internal Affairs, a request sustained by the DA's office.

Anyways, after his appointment as Director of the Detective Bureau, Sam also approved the promotion of Captain Jared Stephenson to inspector, along with appointing him to be his assistant.

Following Crowley's initial promotion to captain and taking command of the Major Crimes Division, Stephenson moved to command the Central Division and did a significant amount of work cleaning things up there. It was a work he continued as Miller, and later, Storch were later appointed as Director of the Detective Bureau.

With Inspector Stephenson the Assistant to the Director of the Detective Bureau, Sam figured that he can make matters easier for his efforts to reform the bureau.

* * *

That day was also the day George Blake travelled to Gotham City for a business trip, though as it turned out, the gang have entered themselves into a contest at the mall and ended up winning five two-round trip plane tickets to Gotham City.

And that's how George came to find himself in the economy class of a Trimm Air domestic flight, flying from the Coolsville Hanna-Barbera International Airport to the Gotham Robert Kahn International Airport, together with members of Mystery Inc.

Given that Gotham is located in the state of New Jersey, the flight is slated to take around two-three hours with no need to change the time on their clocks, as both Gotham and Coolsville are within the Eastern Standard Time Zone.

"I never thought we were going to end up travelling to visit Gotham City together, gang." Fred spoke as the flight remained airborne.

"Me neither, Freddie." Daphne agreed.

"Well, when we get there, kids, I want you all to stay together and travel together." George said to them. "Gotham's a very dangerous place for one to be alone in the streets, especially at night."

"It's like Coolsville in many respects, Mr. Blake." Velma said as she looked up from her guide book on Gotham City. "But without the crazy people running around causing trouble."

"Indeed, Velma." George nodded. "Not to mention the Bat lurking in the shadows at night looking for someone to prey on. Stay out of trouble unless you want to end up running afoul of him."

"Like, I'm sure this Bat is the same as BF, Mr. Blake." Shaggy said confidently.

"You don't know the Bat." George said. "He's tougher than the Blue Falcon in many respects and will never rest until a loose end in a case is tied up."

"We'll be fine, Daddy." Daphne insisted to her father. "It's not like we don't know how to handle dangerous situations while mystery-solving."

"Besides, I don't suppose there's a need for us to split up to tour the city alone, since Gotham doesn't strike me as a tourist-oriented place." Velma added.

"Just stick together and be safe." George said sternly. "I don't want any of you to end up going through what Daphne had to go through last summer-"

"Dad, there's no need to-" Daphne protested, only for her father to cut her off.

"You could've gotten yourself killed, dear." George said. "In the months after the rescue, I still have the occasional nightmare about something terrible happening to you, and as my only child, money can't buy me comfort if I lose you."

"Daddy, I can manage myself." Daphne said. "If you keep shielding me from any potential dangers the world has to offer, I will never have the chance to explore the world on my own and end up having to rely on you, and do you honestly want me to do that as I reach adulthood?"

George sighed as he looked at his only daughter before glancing at Shaggy and Scooby.

"No." He finally said as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Just take care of yourself, dear."

"Don't worry, Dad." Daphne said. "I can manage it."

George nodded thoughtfully just as the captain reported that the flight is due for landing at Gotham Robert Kahn International Airport in the next five minutes, advising the passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts.

* * *

 **What awaits the gang as they arrive at Gotham City?**

 **All I can say is stay tuned, and please read and review!**


	2. At the car rental, a text & a video

Chapter 2: At the car rental, the drive, a text message and a video

After obtaining their luggage, the gang followed George's lead as they made their way to the car rentals.

"Dad, I thought Mr. Wayne has arranged for a driver to pick you up at the airport." Daphne said.

"I told Mr. Wayne that we can manage our own transportation, dear." George said. "Besides, his chauffeur Mr. Pennyworth is unfortunately busy with the arrangement of the business meeting, not that I mind renting a car for us to get to our hotel."

"Not to mention that we can have the opportunity to drive around ourselves, Daph." Fred added.

"I suppose you're right, Freddie." Daphne nodded thoughtfully.

Soon, the sextet were at the car rental office, though it has become apparent that their car renting is going to take longer than they expected.

"What do you mean my rental order has been misplaced?" George asked the clerk a few minutes later.

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Blake." The clerk replied. "But our computer network has been down all afternoon and we're working hard to restore service. I'm sure your rental order will come up soon."

"I certainly hope you're right." George said as he turned to the kids. "Because I've got a business conference to attend in a few hours."

"Not to worry, Mr. Blake." The clerk reassured George. "I'm sure we'll be able to find your rental order soon."

Sure enough, the rental order under George's name was found as the computer network was restored another few minutes later, though as it turns out, the car delegated to George has already been taken.

"I suppose with a day like this, when the computer network is down, anything like this can happen." George surmised.

"Indeed, sir." The clerk nodded. "I tell you what: There's a Ford E-Series van that has not been allocated to a rental order that also fits the vehicle class in your rental order, Mr. Blake."

"Ah, if that's the only vehicle available, then I'll take it." George smiled.

As George proceeded with the transaction with the clerk, the rest of the gang looked around in boredom.

Shaggy and Scooby happened to be looking out the large window overseeing the major highway and the metro bridge leading to the airport, and as they spotted a metro train pulling into the airport, they both swallowed.

The train in question was covered with graffiti completely, and the train looked completely worn out with rust in some places, with the train itself looking like a New York City R40/A subway train.

"Like, that subway train looks kinda sketchy, Scoob." Shaggy said as he pointed at the graffiti-covered subway train.

"Reah." Scooby nodded in agreement. "Rat least Coolsville Metro trains don't rook like that."

It was then that Velma came to them.

"Alright you two, time to go." She said to them. "Mr. Blake's got the car keys."

"Oh, alright." Shaggy nodded. "Let's go, Scoob."

* * *

Soon, the sextet were driving down the highway as they made their way to downtown Gotham.

"Hmmm..." George remarked as he drove the van. "Not bad for a van, huh?"

"Indeed, Mr. Blake." Velma agreed. "Quite smooth, actually."

"And that's considering the fact that the highway's pretty much littered with cracks and potholes." Daphne said from the back row as she looked out of the window.

They soon drove by a road sign that says, "Welcome to Gotham".

However, with the graffiti sprayed on the sign, the sign was like "H*ll comes to Gotham".

Seeing the sign, Shaggy looked on blankly.

"That sign doesn't exactly look welcoming." He said, pointing at the sign in question as the city comes into view.

"I'm sure the sign's just in need of getting replaced, Shag." Fred reassured him. "It did look worn out to me."

"The spray painted message looks more recent to me, though." Daphne said.

"Relax, guys." Velma said. "We're here to enjoy the trip. It's not like the city has nothing to offer tourists."

Shaggy and Scooby both nodded thoughtfully, though there were shadows forming under their eyes.

George's given directions indicated that once they're on the Robert Kahn Memorial Highway, they are to exit the highway at the interchange with the Lewis Wilson Memorial Parkway, where they then travel east before exiting at Robert Lowery Boulevard.

From Robert Lowery Boulevard, they are to continue on in the northeast direction before reaching Gary Merrill Road, whereupon they then made their right turn onto Olan Soule Avenue before reaching the Wayne Crown Hotel, located just across the street from the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises.

"Here we are, kids." George announced as they pulled up at the front entrance. "The Wayne Crown Hotel."

"Wow." Daphne remarked as they got off the van with a chauffeur approaching the van to drive it to a parking spot in the hotel's parking garage. "The hotel sure looks grand, Dad."

"Indeed it is." George nodded. "I attended the opening together with Mr. Wayne and Mr. Crowne when the hotel opened in 2004, and it's really marvelous."

"I'll bet the restaurant serves good food, eh, Mr. Blake?" Shaggy asked as he rubbed his stomach.

"Reah, reah." Scooby nodded in agreement as he licked his lips.

"Oh, yes I'm sure." George smiled at the boys as they made their way into the hotel. "You'll be able to experience the excellent crusine the restaurant has to offer later this evening once I'm finished preparing for my meeting with Mr. Wayne."

"And during this time, Mr. Blake, can we drive around the city to look around?" Fred asked. "I've brought my driver's license with me."

George sighed before turning to the chauffeur, who shrugged.

"If you folks don't need me to drive your van down to your parking spot, then that's fine." The chauffeur said.

"In that case, I don't see anything wrong with that, Fred." George sighed after the chauffeur left. "Just be careful with the van, and remember about what I told you kids on staying safe."

"We will, Mr. Blake." Velma said. "Don't worry."

* * *

Shortly after checking into their hotel rooms, the sextet met at the van where George handed the keys to Fred.

"Remember what I told you kids about driving safely." George said to Fred and Shaggy, who are the only two in the gang to have their driver's licenses. "Last thing we want is for us to end up paying the car rental for damaging one of their rentals."

"Don't worry, Dad." Daphne reassured him. "Freddie's one of the most careful drivers. He learns fast on driving, taking him only two weeks of practice before he got his driver's license."

"Unlike Shaggy who ended up doing driving practice for more than a month before he got his this past June." Velma added.

"Either way, we can handle the van well, Mr. Blake." Fred said to George confidently. "Trust me."

"Alright, then." George nodded before seeing Bruce Wayne exiting the Wayne Enterprises building across the street. "Ah, Bruce!"

"George!" Bruce smiled as he spotted George and the kids and walked towards the sextet, where the two businessmen shared a handshake.

"How are you, old chum?" George asked.

"Well, the usual." Bruce nodded. "I hope the two-to-three hour flight from Coolsville wasn't bad."

"It wasn't." George said before turning to Daphne and the gang and added, "By the way, Bruce, I'll like to introduce you my daughter Daphne Blake and her friends. You probably remember Daphne."

"Indeed I do." Bruce nodded as Daphne smiled. "You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you, Daphne."

"Time sure flies." Daphne smiled as she looked up at Bruce. "How are you, Mr. Wayne?"

"Ah, everything's alright." Bruce smiled as George turned to the rest of the gang.

"And allow me to introduce you to Daphne's close friends." George said before gesturing towards Fred and added, "This is Frederick 'Fred' Jones, who's the son of Coolsville District Attorney Jefferson 'Skip' Jones."

"A pleasure, Mr. Wayne." Fred said as he shook Bruce's offered hand.

"Likewise, Mr. Jones." Bruce nodded.

Turning to Velma, George continued, "This is Velma Dinkley, who aspires to work at NASA some day."

"Ah, I see." Bruce said before shaking Velma's hand as he added, "I'm sure you'll be finding the aerospace engineering field a great adventure, Miss Dinkley."

"I sure do, Mr. Wayne." Velma smiled.

"And finally, this is Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers and his family dog Scooby-Doo." George said as he gestures towards Shaggy and Scooby, who smiled. "Norville is the son of Deputy Chief Sam Rogers of the Coolsville Police Department."

"Ah." Bruce nodded as he shook Shaggy's hand. "You kids must be the Mystery Inc. group I've read a lot about."

"Like, a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Mr. Wayne." Shaggy said during the handshake.

"Likewise, Mr. Rogers." Bruce nodded.

"Rowdy do!" Scooby barked when came his turn to shake Bruce's hand, much to the multi-millionaire's surprise.

"Well, then." Bruce said after the handshake. "Anyways, Mr. Blake and I have some important business to discuss about, kids."

"Oh yes, they were on their way out for a drive around the city." George said as he turned to Bruce. "But anyways, remember what I said about being careful, and make sure you all return here before 7."

"And I've got my phone with me in case you need to call us, Dad." Daphne added as she showed her cell phone.

"Good." George nodded and smiled. "Have fun, kids."

"Sure thing, Mr. Blake." Fred nodded before turning to the gang and added, "Come along, gang."

As the kids head off, Bruce turned to George.

"I wonder if the kids are going to spend a lot of time visiting the museums." George remarked as he walked with Bruce across the street to the Wayne Enterprises building.

"Hopefully, they will stay out of the places that will be subjected to a raid later tonight." Bruce remarked as they pushed through the door.

In the brief second where he pushed the door open, a shadow reflection in the shape of a bat on the glass door can be seen by Bruce.

* * *

Meanwhile, the gang were driving around Gotham City, passing through some landmarks as they went.

Fred was behind the driver's seat with Daphne on the front passenger seat.

In the middle row sat Velma on her own while Shaggy and Scooby were seated at the back row.

"Smooth driving, Freddie." Velma remarked as they stopped at a red light.

"Yeah." Daphne nodded. "All the driving practices sure paid off."

Shaggy was looking towards the front before he saw something and said, "Like, I hope that the state of New Jersey allows teenagers with an out-of-state driver's license to drive."

"Why's that, Shag?" Fred asked.

"A police checkpoint up ahead at twelve o'clock!" Shaggy pointed forward.

Everyone followed Shaggy's gaze, and sure enough, they saw two police officers on the left by a stopped cruiser, which had its light flashing.

It was also that moment that Fred realized that he was on the left turn lane.

"Jinkies." Velma said as she noticed another car stopped in front of the police cruiser in question. "I hope those police officers were only speaking to the driver they've caught running the red light."

"I hope so too." Fred nodded as the green left turn signal lit up, and he followed the traffic in front of them in making a left turn.

The two police officers didn't make a move as the gang drove by, instead focusing on writing up a traffic ticket.

Watching the two police officers doing their business, the gang sighed in relief as Fred drove on.

"I guess that was a close one." Fred remarked.

"Indeed, Freddie." Daphne nodded. However, before she could continue, they heard a phone buzzing.

Sighing, Daphne took out her cell phone before adding, "Sounds like Dad's sending me a text or calling me."

Sliding her slider phone, unlocking it in the process, Daphne scrolled through her phone, whereupon her eyebrows arched when she saw no notifications.

"That wasn't me." She said after checking for messages and her call history and saw that the latest time her father had called or texted her was yesterday.

"Could it be either one of you guys, gang?" Fred asked.

"Uh-uh." Shaggy, Scooby and Velma all shook their heads after checking their own phones, with the former two noting that their phones were still off from the plane ride. "Not us."

"It wasn't me either." Fred said.

The buzz then came again, and Scooby's ears perked up as he tries to pinpoint the source of the sound.

"Rit's coming from re glove compartment." Scooby said, pointing to the glovebox in front of Daphne.

Daphne frowned as she opened the glovebox and they all arched their eyebrows when she pulled out another cell phone.

"Perhaps whoever rented this van last left his or her phone in here?" Daphne offered as she showed the phone to the others.

It was then that the phone vibrated again and the screen lit up.

Taking a look, Daphne saw that there was a text message being sent to the phone she's holding.

"At the Riverfront." She read the text message. "Cargo picked up?"

At the reading of the text message, the gang all shared a look with each other.

* * *

That early evening, over in Coolsville, Deputy Chief Sam Rogers was ready to head home and call it a day from work.

It came after long day of meetings with the other bureau chiefs, and Sam was quite worn out from the day.

As he prepared to go through he usual end-of-day routine, Lieutenant Krebs bursted into his office after a quick knock on the door.

"Sir, we've got a serious situation." Krebs said as he entered his office.

"What's up?" Sam asked when he saw the urgent look on Krebs' face.

"Take a look at this." Krebs quickly said as he lead Sam to his computer, where he has loaded up a news web page that includes a video on it.

Sam stood there wordlessly as he motioned Krebs to play the video, and what followed was shock and disbelief as they watched the video together.

In the video were four police officers, who in the beginning of the video were seen confronting a man.

Some insults can be heard, followed by pushing and shoving on the part of the officers when the man pulled out what appeared to be a knife.

However, the man dropped the "knife" in the course of the pushing and shoving, and the "knife" revealed itself to be actually a comb.

In spite of that, the officers were quick to subdue the man and started beating him with their batons.

When the man resisted, one of the officers started using a Taser on the man.

After getting Tasered, the man collapsed onto the floor while the two other officers continued to use their batons on them.

The man continued to resist before eventually getting handcuffed, during which Sam noticed the fourth officer kicking the man.

His blood begin to boil in anger as he saw the Coolsville Police Department patches and the badges the four officers wore on their uniforms, the same moment he heard one of the officers yelling a racist slur towards the downed man, who they handcuffed and drag onto the parked cruiser.

After the video ended, Sam turned to Kerbs.

"When was this first reported?" He asked.

"Just around seven thirty, sir." Krebs said before moving to the other news web pages he had opened. "And as you can see, the other news agencies have reported the video being surfaced in the past two hours."

Sam leaned down to look. He can see that besides the Coolsville Gazette, the video's contents were also reported on CNN, CBS, New York Times, Washington Post, the Daily Planet, the Gotham Globe and the Los Angeles Times.

In fact, on the LA Times website, the headline accompanying the video and breaking news story read:

"Shades of the Rodney King Beating: Four Coolsville police officers caught on tape viciously beating unarmed cold case murder suspect"

"This isn't going to end well." Sam said after reading the Los Angeles Times headline accompanying the video.

"No indeed, sir." Krebs nodded. "I'm going to contact the other bureau chiefs and divisional commanders and inform them of this news. No doubt this is going to catch fire before long."

Sam nodded as he stepped back into his office, where he pulled out his cell phone and called home.

"Hello, Wendy." He said when his wife answered. "I'm afraid I won't be home for supper tonight."

There was a pause before he added, "Go onto the Coolsville Gazette web page, and you'll understand."

Another pause went by before he added, "Oh, and tell Meghan that she is to stay home tonight. Under no circumstances is she allowed to go out, especially to downtown."

There was a longer pause before Sam said, "Alright. Talk to you later."

After hanging up his cell phone, he then reached for his desk phone.

When the party on the other end answered, Sam barked, "Get me Captain Joanne Spears. Tell her its very urgent."

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	3. Some phone calls and a night in Gotham

Chapter 3: Some phone calls and a night in Gotham

Sam waited anxiously for the captain in charge of the Meyerwood Division to respond to his phone call, especially as he remembered that the four officers in the video, like all officers, also have patches indicating their assigned division.

In the case of the four officers, they all wore Meyerwood Division patches on the shoulder of their uniforms.

As Sam waited for Captain Spears to get onto the phone, he thought of taking a look at some news websites and happened upon Fox News.

It was on Fox News that he happened upon the news article on the update to a cold case murder case, which came after a citizen reported the discovery of human bones this past weekend, a case currently handled by the Meyerwood Division.

He pressed the "Hold" button on his desk phone as he read the news article.

Reading the article, he almost immediately felt a surge in urgency inside him when he learned that the man that was beaten by the four cops was, in fact, interviewed by the two detectives assigned to the cold case investigation prior to getting himself beaten.

And the kicker that made his blood boil was the report that the man had an extensive criminal record.

At the thought, Sam thought to himself on whether the two detectives were responsible for leaking that information during their interview with Fox News.

If that was the case, it will be such a shame, he thought to himself. After all, the lead detective showed a lot of promise as a homicide investigator.

He then decided to watch the video accompanying the news page, and it didn't take long before he felt the need to get onto the phone.

"Faux News." He thought to himself. "That figures."

He then pressed the "Hold" button again as Captain Spears voice came.

"Chief Rogers, sir?" Spears asked in greeting on the other end of the line.

* * *

In the meantime, Detective Ronald "Ronnie" Welker, who was assigned to the Meyerwood Division of the Coolsville Police Department, was at home after a long day of investigating a cold case.

His relaxing at home came after spending the whole day going through departmental records for missing child reports, which came two days after a retired medical doctor reported the discovery of human bones near where she was walking her dog.

The discovery soon led to a murder investigation the subsequent day, whereupon the coroner's office determined that the bones were that of a young child, who as it turned out, was a victim of child abuse, was a runaway and had brain surgery.

Those clues soon led him to search through the departmental records for missing child reports from the early-1990s at Coolsville Central, based on the coroner's determination that the victim would've had his brain surgery in the early-1990s prior to disappearing.

In that same time, his junior partner, Detective Gary Steven, was tasked with drawing up warrants for them to request brain surgery records from all major Coolsville hospitals, records dating from the early-1990s, though given the fact that the victim suffered from child abuse, Steven was pretty upset about the whole case and Welker decided to give him the day off.

Anyways, after searching through departmental records for missing child reports from the 1990s, which involved him spending the whole afternoon at a micro fibe reader and photocopier combing through the files that has yet to be digitized, he decided to do some computer work.

The computer work involved him searching through the criminal records of persons living in the neighbourhood where the bones were discovered during the early 1990s, and he half considered returning to the Meyerwood station to do the work.

However, given that he had a dinner engagement with his sister that night, her home being closer to Coolsville Central than from the Meyerwood station, Welker decided to use the computers up in the Major Crimes Division.

Not that anyone in the MCD squad room will mind him doing so, as his old partner, Sergeant Nathaniel Hughes, was promoted to MCD several years back. As a matter a fact, Hughes was hand-picked by the then-new commanding officer of the MCD, then-Captain Sam Rogers, who's now the deputy chief in command of the Detective Bureau, to the division.

Of course, Hughes was happy to see his old partner and let him use his computer to do the criminal record check. While there was some activity in the squad room, it was downtime with Hughes and his partner Detective Charlie Chan haven't caught a case.

And, as it turned out, there was a man who has lived in the neighbourhood since 1992 that had an extensive criminal record that also fit the profile Welker and Steven had developed of the possible killer.

The discovery forced Welker to call off the dinner with his sister, and he and Steven went to interview the man, whose name is Alex Carter and plead ignorance as he made clear that he knew nothing about the boy whose remains were discovered during the weekend.

After interviewing Carter, on their way back to their car, Welker and Steven found themselves running into reporters, who asked them if Carter is considered to be a suspect.

With a microphone by his face, Welker simply told them that they were just in the process of canvassing through the neighbourhood with no updates to the case before he and Steven got onto their car, even when they were pressed by a reporter from Fox News, who even offered to provide them an off-the-record interview on any updates to the case.

The interview with Carter was finished a couple hours ago, and now Welker was alone at home watching the news on TV.

He flipped through the news channels until he came upon Fox News, where the news anchor has reported that there has been updates to the Meyerwood South Bone Case.

"Uh oh." Welker thought to himself.

He paused as the channel got down to the news update, where the reporter, who was the one pressing him for more updates, has reported the updates in a voice-over dub with video footage featuring him speaking to them.

It was that moment that the telephone rang, and he swiftly answered it.

"You watching this trash?" Steven asked in greeting.

"I sure am." Welker nodded. "We sure looked like garbage in there."

It was then that the reporter, in her voice-over dub, stated that Fox News has learned that Carter had an extensive criminal record dated back to his teens, where he was charged with drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion.

"Yeah, we looked like we've told her about Carter's record." Steven said. "I certainly didn't say anything about Carter's record."

It was then that the reporter's voice-over dub ended as Welker watched himself saying, "That's all I could say right now."

"Neither did I." Welker said. "Who could've informed her about Carter's record?"

And then, the channel shifted to footage where, an hour after the interview, Carter found himself getting viciously beaten and Tasered by four police officers.

In the voice-over accommodating the footage, the reporter stated that it was a surprise that Carter wasn't placed under arrest for the murder immediately following his interview with the two detectives assigned to the case.

"And more importantly, whoever tipped off that reporter had also tipped off our guys to track down Carter and do that to him an hour later." Welker added.

"This certainly isn't going to end well, Ronnie." Steven said.

"There didn't have to be a leak." Welker quickly said. "She could've checked the state's public criminal record database and drew up her conclusions from there. There wasn't a need for someone to leak that to her."

It was then that Welker heard an incoming call beeping from his phone and he added, "Hang on, Gary, there's someone calling me."

"Must be the Needle." Steven said. "Anyways, I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ronnie."

"Right." Welker nodded before hanging up and then switched to the incoming call. "Hello?"

"Ronnie, it's me." Sure enough, it was their commanding officer Lieutenant Sarah Deedle. "I'm assuming you're watching the Fox News report right now, huh?"

"Yes, and all I can tell you is that we didn't tell her anything about Carter's record." Welker quickly said. "All we've did was-"

"You certainly looked like you've told her something." Deedle cut in before Welker could finish. "And by that, I meant it wasn't 'no comment', Ronnie. Your mouth was moving, and when they cut to you saying 'that's all I could say right now', that certainly means you've told her something."

"Lieutenant, let me get this straight." Welker said. "We did tell her that we were simply canvassing the neighbourhood, asking for more information pertaining to any case of a child running away from home, Carter included. We didn't, however, tell her about Carter's record, nor did we tell her that we were there because of Carter's record, because if she knew, she would've asked us about it and she didn't. So how exactly did she got the information later, I have no clue."

There was a long pause as Deedle sighed. Then, she finally spoke.

"Alright, then. In the meantime, that news report has also led to Carter getting viciously beaten by four of our officers." She said. "You guys better put your act together and have a written explanation prepared first thing tomorrow morning. Before the report on Faux was even over, I got a call from Captain Spears, and she told me that she had gotten a call from Deputy Chief Rogers."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Welker sighed. "I'm assuming you want to know about the updates on the case."

"Oh, yes, speaking of which." Deedle said. "What on earth is going on? I thought you guys were going to keep me in the loop on any developments."

"I was going to inform you of the updates first thing tomorrow morning." Welker said. "I didn't expect Fox News to do that for me, as well as for Captain Spears and Chief Rogers."

"Never mind that." Deedle said. "Tell me more about Carter."

* * *

Meanwhile, the gang has returned to their hotel where they met up with George for dinner.

"So how was the drive, kids?" George asked them as they waited for their ordered meals.

"It was really good, Mr. Blake." Fred nodded. "The drive was pretty smooth, in spite of the many potholes and cracks."

"Ah, that's good." George smiled.

"However, we did found a lost cell phone left in the glove component, Dad." Daphne said as she showed her father the phone she picked up.

"Oh really?" George asked. "In that case, we should head back to the airport and report the lost phone to the car rental. Not tonight, though. Mr. Wayne has strongly advised against travelling at night in Gotham, not that I blame him, so you kids are going to do that first thing tomorrow morning."

"What about you, Mr. Blake?" Velma asked.

"My business meeting with Mr. Wayne begins at 9 in the morning, so unfortunately, I can't go with you kids." George said.

"Well, at least we can still drive around the city for some sightseeing, gang." Fred said.

"Yeah, like try out some of the cuisine Gotham has to offer." Shaggy suggested with Scooby licking his lips.

* * *

Shortly later that night, the gang all settled in their hotel rooms to sleep for the night.

Outside, the city seemed pretty quiet and peaceful, though barely a couple blocks away, there was a mugging going on in an alleyway.

"Stop stallin', lady!" The mugger said as he forced his gun on the victim. "Give me ye pearls! I'm sure they're gonna worth a few grand."

The victim, knowing better not to get herself lead for a late night snack, reluctantly handed her pearls to the mugger, who smirked.

The mugger then turned to make his getaway down the dark alleyway, but nothing could've prepared him for what will happen next.

The victim was about to head off to call police when they heard a man's scream and some fist punches.

Before she could react, she found the pearls back in her hand.

"Huh?" She asked before looking up and saw a bat disappearing over the rooftop of the nearby building under the full moon.

A few minutes later, when the police arrived at the scene, all they found was the mugger hog-tied and hanging upside down from the fire escape.

They also found more jewelry on the mugger's person, who moaned as he was cut down onto the ground, to be handcuffed and taken into police custody.

"Looks like we've gotten another one of the Robber Baron's henchmen, lads." The police sergeant commented.

"And a witness to corroborate on the robbery, sarge." An officer added as he nodded at the would-be victim. "Ms. Hayley North was almost robbed by the bloke here."

"Ah, Ms. North." The sergeant said. "Care to tell us what happened here?"

"Be happy to, Officer." Ms. North nodded.

* * *

 **Rest in peace, Heather North. Thank you very much for your long-time work voicing Daphne in the franchise's long-run.**

 **Please read and review!**


	4. A meeting and a new task force

Chapter 4: A news interview, a meeting and a new task force

 _August 3, 2011_

The next morning, Shaggy and Scooby were among the first in the gang to wake up.

As Shaggy went to take a shower in the washroom in his and Scooby's room, Scooby decided to turn on the television.

The first channel he came upon was the news channel, where there was an interview in front of Gotham Central, the headquarters of the Gotham City Police Department.

"Commissioner Pauling, what do you make of the capture of the Robber Baron?" One of the reporters asked the police commissioner.

"Well, obviously, the Gotham City Police Department wants nothing more than to keep Gothamites safe everyday." Pauling replied. "And with the capture of the Robber Baron last night, I can assure the citizens of Gotham that they can now all sleep well with the knowledge that their valuables are safe from the clutches of the Robber Baron and his gun-toting gang."

"What's going to happen to the Robber Baron and his gang, Commissioner?" The reporter asked.

"They are to be charged with armed robbery and grand larceny, both of which carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of ten years." Pauling said. "As I had promised when I was appointed as police commissioner, any person breaking the law in this city will be dealt swiftly by police and be brought to justice."

Scooby scoffed at the police commissioner's remark, and for some reason, he felt that he has developed an instant dislike of the police commissioner.

"Like, what's on the news, Scoob?" Shaggy asked as he emerged from his shower, having had dressed into his usual attire.

"Re capture of ris 'Robber Baron', Raggy." Scooby said. "Re police commissioner ris claiming full credit ror the capture."

Shaggy turned towards the television screen as Pauling continued with his remark. Like Scooby, he scoffed at the sight of the commissioner of the GCPD.

"I'm very sure Gothamites appreciate that they can now rest easy without having to fear the Robber Baron and his gang raiding their penthouse or their apartment building in the depths of the night, Commissioner Pauling." The reporter nodded. "Now, what do you have to say with regards to reports that Batman was actually responsible for the capture of the Robber Baron? Does that make any changes to the police's ongoing hunt to bring Batman to justice?"

Pauling sighed as he took a deep breath. Then, he looked towards the camera as he composed himself.

"The Batman operates outside the law, Ms. Gleeson." Pauling said. "He is a danger to society and has no regard to the law. The fact that he helped capture the Robber Baron and his gang doesn't change the fact that he is a dangerous criminal who must be apprehended swiftly and be brought to justice."

"So in other words, he's still a criminal." Ms. Gleeson asked.

"Exactly." Pauling nodded. "Mayor Hill has made clear of his orders for the police to capture this 'Caped Crusader', and it's a wonder that his colleague over at Coolsville tolerates the presence of a giant falcon, whose presence has only exuberates their problems."

Shaggy scoffed at the remark again and shook his head. He instantly figured why his father warned him and the gang not to get too close to Gotham City police prior to their departure for the trip.

Scooby then reached for the television remote and turned off the television.

"Ri can't take ris, Raggy." Scooby said.

"Me neither, old buddy." Shaggy agreed as he checked his watch before adding, "Like, come on, Scoob. We gotta meet up with the others at the restaurant."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Coolsville, Chief of Police Gil Mason was in a fuming mood as he saw the large crowd of protesters gathered in front of Coolsville Central from the window in the conference room.

It was early in the morning when they held the meeting and Mason noted that the protesters were already gathering up since the crack of dawn.

Also seated in the room were the bureau chiefs, Sam included, the three Assistant Chiefs, Councilman Bradley "Brad" Chiles, who's the chair of the Coolsville Police Departmental Board, a handful more City Hall officials, District Attorney Skip Jones, Mayor Gaunt and Assistant District Attorney Alan Richardson, who was a notorious civil rights attorney.

Richardson is considered to be a protege of Skip Jones, where he has carried on with Skip's work in working to further improve civil rights in Coolsville after Skip was elected as the city's district attorney back in 2009.

They were in a meeting that early morning and it was clear that Mayor Gaunt wasn't pleased by the news report from the night before.

"Mayor Gaunt, I understand your concern about the conduct of those four officers involved in the beating." Mason was saying. "But to ask for an outside investigation on their conduct? That's too much, especially given that the victim pulled a knife out when he was facing the four officers! Surely the officers felt threatened by the man's behaviour and you know..."

"Correction, Chief Mason." Gaunt cut in sharply. "You mean, 'pulled out what appeared to be a knife', an object which turned out to be a comb!"

"Yeah, whatever." Mason huffed. "Point is, Councilman Chiles recommended you to approve an extension of my tenure as chief of police, so that also means that he trusts my judgement in getting things right, Mayor Gaunt. As I said before, I have full confidence that the department can come clean on what exactly went wrong last night without any outside investigation."

"That's where you're wrong, Chief Mason." Richardson huffed. "I've got plenty of clients who would like to disagree on your assertion that the department can come clean on last night's events without an outside investigation, especially given the department's long history of corruption and misconduct, not to mention the Guns and Gangs Scandal just last year. You certainly can understand the reasoning behind our demands that an outside investigation be placed."

"We do know that the beating came as a result of someone leaking a citizen's criminal record." Gosnell spoke. "And everyone in the department knows that leaking the criminal record of a citizen is against departmental policy, so you can surely count on..."

"Not when Internal Affairs is under audit, Deputy Chief Gosnell." Skip cut in. "My office has reasons to believe that Internal Affairs won't investigate this affair diligently when the division has a history of being involved in covering up many of the department's missteps and scandals, such as the shooting of a corrupt officer and her husband who were illegally raiding a warehouse and stealing cargo at the Docklands in the summer of 1985."

"District Attorney Jones is right." Richardson nodded. "How can a police department with a history of scandal and misconduct can be trusted in cleaning up its own act without outside supervision?"

"And Miller told me that this department doesn't belong to officers 'corrupted' by the influence of outsiders." Sam snorted. "That weasel sure is full of baloney, not to mention the fact that we need the help of a group of 'meddling kids' in solving crimes on a regular basis."

"Bite your tongue, Rogers." Gosnell hissed. "We don't need you to-"

"You're the one who should bite your tongue, Deputy Chief Gosnell." Richardson snapped. "This department is supposed to serve and protect the citizens of Coolsville, and yet we've got the deputy chief in charge of holding rogue officers accountable arguing with someone who speaks the truth. Your attitude speaks volumes on how the Coolsville Police Department has become a huge embarrassment in the state."

"A huge embarrassment indeed." Councilman Chiles nodded. "Now, Chief Mason doesn't want an outside investigation, though it is clear that the people are demanding that the four officers are held accountable for their actions."

"Which is where Deputy Chief Rogers comes in." Skip said. "He has proven his intent to clean things up in the department, and my office has full confidence that he can get to the bottom of yesterday's events."

At the remark, Gosnell slammed his fist down onto the table.

"You can't be serious in asking Rogers to-" He said, only for Skip to cut him off.

"I am, Deputy Chief Gosnell." Skip said sternly as he turned to Gosnell. "My office doesn't have any faith in Internal Affairs carrying out its duty in diligently investigating incidents involving officers using excess force in arrests."

"Not to mention the fact that a majority of my clients remain unsatisfied by investigation outcomes in your civil rights abuses." Richardson added.

"Gentlemen, I understand the reason behind your asking Deputy Chief Rogers to investigate yesterday's incident." Mason said. "But I'm certain that Internal Affairs can do its job properly."

"I'm sorry, chief." Gaunt said. "But I've already made up my mind. A special task force completely separate from Internal Affairs is needed to diligently investigate yesterday's incident."

"And besides, I have to tell you that if you don't take care of the problem diligently today, then the problem will certainly blow again and when that happens...you don't need me to remind you what happened in Los Angeles in the end of the 1990s, eh?" Skip said firmly.

"The consent decree, in case you're wondering." Richardson said.

Richardson was referring to the consent decree that the Los Angeles Police Department had to agree to after a federal investigation revealed excessive civil rights abuses, misconduct and corruption within its ranks in the 1990s.

Sam knew from a contact in Los Angeles, who was a Marine Corps buddy of his from the Gulf War, that if the LAPD chief doesn't follow through with the recommendations set by the consent decree, he will end up taking orders from the FBI.

Having to take orders from the FBI is something every police department in the country doesn't fancy, especially in Coolsville, where the level of distrust between the bureau and the Coolsville Police Department is high.

Mason slumped in his seat for a brief moment, then he reluctantly nodded as he figured it best to cut his losses.

"Very well, then." He said. "I'm authorizing the formation of a special task force that will investigate the excess use of force incident from yesterday and further investigate the breach in departmental policy, and Deputy Chief Sam Rogers will be placed in charge of this special task force, where it will take priority over Internal Affairs in the investigations."

Gosnell almost immediately stood up at Mason's remark.

"Chief Mason, you surely can't be serious?!" He asked.

"Stand down, Deputy Chief Gosnell." Mason said. "I've made my decision, unless you wanted to find yourself in hot water for insubordination."

Everyone in the room then turned to Sam, who nodded firmly.

"Right, then." Gaunt said. "Deputy Chief Rogers, for all progress in the investigations, your task force is to report directly to Councilman Chiles, Chief Mason and Assistant District Attorney Richardson."

"Yes, I'm certain that all three of you will want to be kept in the loop, especially as the situation drags on." Sam nodded.

* * *

Shortly after the meeting is adjourned, Sam made his way out of the conference room, but not before running into Deputy Chief Gosnell on the way.

"Rogers, a word." Gosnell said.

"What can I do for you, Gosnell?" Sam asked as he stopped, almost wishing that he didn't.

Gosnell walked over to him and pointed right at his chest.

"You stay out Internal Affairs' way in your investigation." Gosnell said bluntly. "I thought you know that there are secrets that it's best that the department keeps to itself."

Sam snorted in response. "Yeah, right. It's not like that I'm going to investigate something that concerns national security."

He then walked away with a huff, in spite of Gosnell making efforts to stop him.

"There are going to be casualties if you don't stay out of Internal Affairs' way in your investigation, Rogers." Gosnell said.

"Of course there will be casualties." Sam huffed. "In a city like Coolsville, I'll be surprised if this didn't end with any casualties."

* * *

After his run in with Gosnell, Sam returned to his office where he almost immediately got down to business and made a handful of phone calls.

His first phone call was to Commander Nancy Palatas, who succeeded him as Assistant to the Director of Special Operations upon his promotion to deputy chief.

Like Sam, Palatas had a great working dynamic with Assistant Chief Harewood and shared their determination in cleaning up the department.

Before being appointed as Assistant to the Director of Special Operations, Palatas spent significant time in the Guns and Gangs Division, where as a lieutenant, she approved McBride's transfer to the division back in 2002.

She had a reputation as being tough as nails and was known for her no-nonsense attitude in getting things done.

During Harewood's tenure as Director of the Detective Bureau, Palatas was promoted to captain and appointed to command the division. She will eventually be the first to command the newly-merged Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Division in 2004.

She was later forced out by Miller, whereupon she was promoted to Inspector and made Assistant to the Director of the North Bureau.

It was only after Storch took over as Director of the Detective Bureau did Palatas return to Coolsville Central, where she was made Assistant to the Detective Bureau to fill Sam's position upon his promotion to commander and new appointment.

Anyways, in his phone call, Sam requested Palatas to temporarily take over as Acting Director of the Detective Bureau while he takes command of the special task force.

In his second phone call, Harewood confirmed to Sam that he has appointed Commander Sean Innes, the second-in-command of West Bureau, to take over Palatas' position as Assistant to the Director of Special Operations in an acting capacity.

As a matter a fact, Innes was the police captain who was in charge of the City West Division while Sam was in command of the Major Crimes Division back in the day, and Sam welcomed Harewood's appointment of Innes to temporarily fill Palatas' position.

In his third phone call, Sam told Stephenson about his appointment, in addition to conferring to him that he will be reporting to Commander Palatas in the interim.

It was also in that phone call that Sam asked Stephenson to arrange a meeting with Captain Crowley and the Major Crimes Division for the mid-morning.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	5. A conversation & the discovery

Chapter 5: A conversation in the station and the discovery

Meanwhile, that morning at the Meyerwood station, Detective Welker arrived at his desk and sat down with a sigh.

"You should've had us radioed in after your interview with that dirtbag Carter, Detective." A voice said.

Welker turned around, finding himself face-to-face with Officer Mitch Bernier, who was a seven-year veteran on the force with two chevrons on his sleeve.

"I beg your pardon?" Welker arched his eyebrows.

"When you discovered that one of the neighbours had a criminal record that also fits the profile of the suspect doing what was done to the boy, like Carter for instance, you should've radioed us in to have him hold for the night." Bernier said.

"He may have a criminal record, Bernier, but that's no reason for us to suspect him of killing the victim." Welker folded his arms. "We still have yet to figure out if his claims of living in the neighbourhood since 1992 are true."

"He could've been lying to you." Bernier retorted. "He could've moved into the neighbourhood because of the fact that he had the victim buried there and wanted to make sure no one suspicious will figure out."

"Then how did Doctor Murdoch's dog found the remains in the first place?" Welker asked. "She wasn't involved in a struggle when she returned with the bone to Doctor Murdoch."

"Whatever." Bernier said. "Point is, Carter is considered to be a flight risk. You should've taken care of the problem when you checked his record, Detective. You probably won't do it, because you're soft, but Carrie would do it because she knew it was the right thing to do, and-"

"Officer Bernier, bite your tongue!" Another voice suddenly barked, and Bernier and Welker turned and looked.

Walking towards them were Detective Linda Wilkins and Sergeant Geoff Butler, accompanied by Lieutenant Nelson McCormick.

"You didn't need to be here, Lieutenant." Bernier retorted. "Internal Affairs is handling this investigation, and the detective here will soon be answering questions on why he let Carter off the hook after the interview last night, and-"

"In case you haven't heard, Officer, Internal Affairs is no longer handling this investigation, Officer Bernier." McCormick said. "Orders from the chief, who has authorized Chief Rogers to take charge of a special task force to investigate last nights incident, not to mention that you're suspended at the moment, which also means you shouldn't be here."

"Now get out of the station before we have you reported for insubordination." Butler added with his arms folded.

Bernier glared at the trio, then at Welker before walking out of the squad room.

After Bernier left the squad room, the trio turned to Welker.

"Detective Ronald Welker, I presume?" Sergeant Butler asked.

"That's me." Welker nodded. "What can I do for you?"

Wilkins leaned close to his desk and said, "Deputy Chief Rogers asked us to determine whether the criminal record of Alexander Carter was inappropriately divulged to the media without authorization from Media Relations, in addition to tipping off officers from the division to try to arrest him an hour later, roughing him up in the process."

Welker sighed and closed his eyes before saying, "I assume it is safe to say yes."

"Then we need to know who was responsible for this." Butler said.

"Whoever was responsible for leaking Carter's criminal record also tipped off Officer Bernier's group in this station and led them to rough Carter up in the process." McCormick added. "This is something very serious and whoever did this will have thousands of angry protesters to answer to."

"I certainly hope it's not you, Detective." Butler added. "Because if that's the case-"

"I can assure you guys it's not me." Welker quickly said before reaching into his pocket, pulled out a recording device, and added, "I kept this recording device on after my partner and I finished our interview with Carter last night, so it has recorded my conversation with that Faux News reporter. How about you guys listen to the recording and then we talk?"

Butler, Wilkins and McCormick shared a look with each other.

"We're still going to need to speak to your partner, Detective." McCormick said.

"When he gets here." Welker nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Gotham, the gang were once again driving around the city not long after finishing breakfast and George's departure for his conference.

Once again, prior to their departure, George emphasized safety as he made clear that the next time he sees them, they all will have to be in one piece.

"I honestly wish Dad would just leave us be." Daphne remarked frustratingly as they drove down a major street. "It's not like that this is the first time we're outside Coolsville."

"Well, given that this is Gotham City, no doubt your father wants us all to be careful, Daphne." Velma said. "After all, in terms for danger and safety, Coolsville is more or less a walk in a park compared to Gotham, and there's a reason why Gotham is the most dangerous city in the country."

"While Coolsville is the second-most dangerous city." Daphne huffed. "It's not like that Gotham's that worse when compared to Coolsville, especially with police corruption being a major problem in both cities."

"Oh well." Fred said. "Once we have this phone handed in to the rental car agency, gang, we'll be on our way."

Just as Fred finished speaking, the phone buzzed again and everyone (minus Fred) shared a look with each other before Daphne picked it up and unlocked the slide phone.

The text message says, "What's the holdup behind your response? Cargo and van should've been picked up at airport rental car at least 12 hours ago."

The gang all shared a look with each other after Daphne read the message out loud.

"Seems like the sender of these text messages is expecting this van to be picked up at the airport car rental place." Velma said.

"Perhaps we should send a text message back telling the sender that the receiver left this phone in the van at the car rental place." Shaggy offered. "After all, the guy at the rental place told us that this van wasn't reserved for a renter."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Daphne said. "How come the sender of these text messages are even expecting this van to be picked up at the airport car rental in the first place?"

Before anyone could answer, the cell phone started to ring and as Daphne looked at the screen, she can see that the phone number of the caller is blocked.

Sharing a look with her friends, she shrugged.

"Do you guys think...?" Daphne asked as she nodded at the ringing cell phone.

"Maybe you should tell the sender that we're getting the van back to the car rental and that we're about to turn in the missing cell phone." Velma suggested.

"But it doesn't make any sense." Daphne said. "Unless an arrangement was made, how is it that the sender or caller was expecting this van to be picked up by someone who was to rent this van and left this cell phone in the van?"

Shaggy, Scooby and Velma all shared a look and they all shrugged.

Staring at the ringing cell phone, Daphne looked on before deciding to answer it.

"Hello?" Daphne asked.

"You know who this is." The party at the other end sneered. "What's the holdup behind your responding to my messages?"

"I-I'm sorry." Daphne stammered. "But I have no clue..."

"Stop giving excuses!" The voice cut in sharply. "You were supposed to have the van picked up at the airport yesterday afternoon and then message me on the provided phone that the van and cargo has been picked up."

"Like I said, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I really have no idea what you're talking about." Daphne said. "Why are you expecting this van to be picked up? Did you rent this van early on and how did you left this cell phone on the van unless you've rented it earlier?"

"Enough with the questions." The voice said. "Are the cargo and the van ready?"

"We're on the way if that's what you're asking." Daphne replied. "But what cargo are you talking about?"

"Now don't you try to play around with me." The voice said angrily. "We're already running late in our plans and we can't afford any more delays!"

"Who are you anyways?" Daphne finally snapped as she ran out of patience. "Why did you left this cell phone on the van? And how come you're expecting someone renting this van to message you through this phone as soon as it is rented?"

"I should've known that you'll be asking a lot of questions on the plan." The voice retorted. "And unless you want us to get into trouble, quit complaining and read the messages I've sent yesterday and do as the messages instructed!"

The line then went dead as the person on the other end hung up.

"Now that was really rude." Daphne said as they all looked at the cell phone.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Like, what cargo is the caller talking about?"

"I honestly wouldn't know." Fred shrugged. "The van is empty as far as I know."

As Fred was speaking, Daphne leaned forward to push the glove compartment open and put the cell phone back in there when she noticed that there is another object in there.

"Say, there's something else in the glove compartment, gang." She said as she reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the object, only for the gang to gasp in shock by what she was holding.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed. "It's a handgun!"

"A handgun?" Fred asked. "What's it doing here in the glove compartment?"

"Like, maybe it's the handgun left behind by the previous renter." Shaggy offered. "And perhaps the 'cargo' the caller was talking about."

"But what plan is that caller referring to?" Daphne asked.

"Search me." Shaggy shrugged as he leaned over to take a closer look at the handgun. "Besides, I recognize the shape and type of this handgun: It's the service weapons type issued to police officers."

"You know firearms, Shaggy?" Velma asked.

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Pops has enrolled me in weapon-handling courses offered by the police department during a few past summers, so I recognize these firearms."

"That could also mean that whoever rented this van last was a police officer." Velma said. "A clumsy one, that is."

"Indeed." Daphne nodded. "Leaving his service weapon behind on the rented van."

It was then that Shaggy and Scooby turned to the back of the van and noticed some barricade between them and the rear doors.

"Say, why is there a barricade set up between the rear seats and the rear doors?" Shaggy asked as he gestured at the barricade.

"I wouldn't know, Shaggy." Fred replied. "Besides, I don't think we placed any of our luggage in the rear, so I don't see why we need that barricade."

By this point, the gang were driving through a clearly deserted industrial park just before the highway interchange.

"There's a parking lot up ahead." Daphne said. "Maybe we should stop by there and get the barricade down."

"Yeah." Fred nodded. "I think it's kinda impeding my view to the windows on the rear doors."

Soon, the van pulled into the vacant parking lot and the gang got off.

"Alright, let's see if we can get the barricade off." Fred said as they moved to open the rear doors.

The girls both nodded as he and Shaggy proceeded to open the rear doors, only for them to come upon a shocking sight when they opened the doors completely.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Scooby leaped into his arms.

"Jinkies!" Velma said.

"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed.

"Holy moly!" Fred exclaimed. "I don't believe it!"

What the gang were looking at when they opened the rear doors was a woman tied up and gagged.

* * *

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	6. Revelations

**There's been a slight update to Chapter 5 where I initially forgot to add in a crucial part of the story.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Revelations

The gang were speechless as they found themselves face-to-face with the tied up woman.

"What's she doing here in the van?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards the woman.

"Rand how rid she got ron the van?" Scooby added.

"Well, judging from the fact that she is tied up and gagged, I'd say that she was kidnapped." Velma quickly said.

"By whoever rented this van last?" Daphne folded her arms. "Doesn't sound right to me. Why would her kidnappers leave her behind if someone were to rent this van and thus risking her getting discovered?"

"Or maybe the kidnapper was expecting a partner to pick this particular van at the rental place." Fred surmised.

"Either way, this lady needs help, guys." Velma urged as she moved to the woman.

The gang moved quick to first ungag the woman and then untie her. However, nothing in the creation of mankind could prepare them for what the woman was going to do next.

The woman, upon getting freed, moved quick to grab a hidden gun from the backseat and aimed it at the gang.

"Don't even think of making a move!" The woman said angrily as she aimed the gun at the gang.

Eying the gun Daphne was holding, the woman growled, "You guys think that by kidnapping me, you're not going to let me talk and expose the truth, eh?"

"W-w-what are you talking about, ma'am?" Fred asked nervously.

"Don't you even play dumb with me." The woman said. "I know you're trying to play innocence and get me talking and then have me silenced."

Turning to Shaggy and Scooby, Velma said, "No doubt she must've been traumatized by her kidnapping."

"Of course I'm traumatized!" The woman snapped. "You don't think getting kidnapped won't be traumatizing?"

"I can certainly relate, ma'am." Daphne said. "I still have nightmares from my kidnapping last summer."

At the remark, the woman turned to Daphne and said, "So you know what I feel. Brilliant."

She then turned to the rest of the gang and added, "But that doesn't justify what your friends have done to me earlier!"

"What have we done, ma'am?" Fred asked. "We merely rented this van. And what friends are you talking about?"

"Yes, I'm sure you did, just like the men responsible for doing this to me were merely doing their job." The woman said. "And I'm sure you kids don't know anything about this until now the same way the politicians running this city doesn't know anything about the city's problems until a major crisis hits the place."

"I think we need to go get you help, ma'am." Daphne suggested. "Whoever did this to you really meant you harm."

"And we should inform the police while we're at it and have them get to the bottom of what happened to you." Fred added.

The woman's eyes widened as Fred made the remark, but before she could spoke, Shaggy spoke up first.

"Like, I don't think that's a good idea, Fred." He said. "Pops warned us before we left for the trip to not be anywhere close to Gotham City police. Now, I don't know what made him distrustful of the Gotham City Police Department, but I'm sure he has his reasons, plus he'll never warn me about anything without a reason."

There was a pause between the six after Shaggy made the remark, and then the woman turned to Shaggy and Scooby.

"You're not from Gotham, are you?" She asked.

"No, ma'am." Shaggy shook his head. "My friends and I are visiting from Coolsville, Ohio."

"Who in their right mind will want to visit a h*llhole like Gotham." The woman shook her head. "What brought you kids here?"

"My father's in town for a business meeting with Wayne Enterprises, and since school's out, the gang and I thought we should join him and leave our bubble in Coolsville for ourselves and see the outside world." Daphne offered.

"Well, I hope you kids don't mind me saying this, but your father sure pick one h*ll of a time to attend a business meeting at Wayne Enterprises in Gotham." The woman folded her arms.

"What makes you say this, ma'am?" Velma raised an eyebrow.

"The bastards that did this to me..." The woman looked at the gang each. "...they're police officers, and this van is an undercover police van."

You can hear a pin drop after the woman made the revelation.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Coolsville, it wasn't even noon and Detective Welker was already exhausted.

Since his meeting with Detective Wilkins, Sergeant Butler and Lieutenant McCormick, he had awaited for a judge to sign off the warrants he and Steven have completed in order to request the city hospitals to issue brain surgery records from the early 1990s.

That came after the autopsy determined that the victim had brain surgery several months before his death and based on the size of the holes in the victim's skull, they were able to narrow the time frame of the surgery to the early 1990s.

As he sat on his seat, wondering where the case would lead him and his partner, his phone rang and he swiftly reached over to answer it.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hey, man." It was his old partner Sergeant Hughes from MCD, and Welker can detect a tone of urgency in his old partner's voice. "How are you doing?"

"Been under the weather since news of the beating came last night, in addition to Fox Noise suggestion that my inaction on Carter last night was responsible for that brutal beating that was caught on tape, not to mention that Deputy Chief Rogers' task force showed up a couple hours ago." Welker replied.

"Man, I sure wish there's something I can do to help." Hughes said.

"No need to worry about something you can't control, partner." Welker quickly said. "But I digress, what's up? I'm sure you're not calling me just to check on me if you've got this tone of urgency in your voice."

"I'm not, man." Hughes said. "More like a hunch. Last night, shortly after you left, someone from IA walked into the squad room and asked me about why I've lent my computer to you when you did the neighbourhood record search last night, know what I mean?"

"Yes." Welker nodded before pausing and added, "And what do you mean, someone from IA?"

"You know, Gosnell's Gestapo." Hughes said after a pause, and Welker assumed that his old partner paused to take a look around to ensure that no one other than his partner was listening. "The guy's name is Sergeant Jamie Paxton, and this morning, she's been pressuring me to tell her more about you after news of the beating broke."

"Why is someone from IA interested in learning more about me?" Welker asked before he put it together and added, "Wait a minute...you don't mean..."

"Exactly, man." Hughes nodded. "It might be months since your last run-in with IA, but they sure are still eager to get you to pull the pin, especially since IA's involvement in your last case five months ago was the exact reason why Deputy Chief Rogers has requested the DA's office to place IA under audit in the first place."

"Huh." Welker nodded as he recalled a handful of details from his last case.

The case began when the police were called in to investigate the brutal, vicious beating of a civil rights attorney named Paul Briggs, who is considered to be a protege of Assistant District Attorney Alan Richardson and has a reputation of being tough and relentless when it comes to pursuing justice for his clients.

The vicious beating came on the eve of a major trial with the police department facing a civil rights suit launched by Briggs, and given his history and specialty on lawsuits against police brutality, it was one case where everyone wearing the badge of the Coolsville Police Department is considered to be a suspect in the case.

The case led to Welker being assigned to a task force, where he is partnered with one Internal Affairs detective named Derek Numes, who had a history of investigating Welker for departmental policy violations, investigations that turned up fruitless time and again.

A series of twists and turns led to Welker eventually uncovering evidence of Numes and Internal Affairs taking part in a sting to bring down cops they suspect of being dirty or out of line, a sting that involves the use of unethical and illegal investigation and interrogation methods that, in terms for violation of constitutional rights, makes the secret police force of an authoritarian regime seem easy-going by comparison.

Welker will also uncover evidence of Numes' involvement in a blackmail ring, a ring that was instrumental in the brutal beating Briggs received.

Following a rather violent and tense confrontation between Welker and Numes, the IA investigator was placed under arrest for conspiracy to commit attempted murder and blackmail.

For Detective Welker, his involvement in the case has placed him under the radar of Deputy Chief Gosnell.

In fact, shortly after wrapping up the case, Welker was called in to Lieutenant Deedle's office, where the lieutenant has issued him a message from the third floor of Coolsville Central.

In the message, Gosnell conferred that a detective position at the NYPD's 12th Precinct is available and that Welker should be an excellent candidate for the position.

However, both Welker and Deedle knew that this offer to transfer to New York was a way for Gosnell to ensure that the detective responsible for bringing down Numes gets out of the picture, and the detective was quick to decline the offer.

Both the case and Gosnell's message to Welker caught the attention of Deputy Chief Sam Rogers, the newly-appointed Director of the Detective Bureau, and they have contributed to his requesting the DA's office to audit the conduct of Internal Affairs, a request that was sustained and approved.

"Exactly, man." Hughes said. "The chief may have authorized Chief Rogers' task force to take priority over IA in the investigation into last nights events, but that doesn't mean that IA is willing to sit by and let the task force sort things out. In fact, I'm certain that IA is only too happy to get you into trouble and use you as a chip to disavow the credibility of the investigation by Chief Rogers' task force."

"I understand, Nat." Welker nodded. "Thanks for the heads up."

"No prob, man." Hughes replied. "And be careful. I've got a sneaking suspicion that whatever Chief Rogers' task force is about to uncover ain't gonna be pretty, and there are many in the department who will keep it under wraps at all costs, including the guys at your station involved in the beating and Internal Affairs."

"I sure will." Welker nodded again. "And don't worry. I'll figure out a way to deal with Gosnell's lunatic Gestapo and those trouble-making officers."

"I'm sure you will, man." Hughes nodded. "Oh, and one more thing."

"What is it?" Welker asked.

"That reporter from Fox Noise that made you and your partner look like trash out there last night...I know her." Hughes said. "Her name is Heather Jasper-Howe, who's the main bureau reporter at Fox Noise's Coolsville station."

"You've watched her trash?" Welker asked.

"Of course I don't." Hughes replied. "However, I do know that Sergeant Paxton of IA being fully acquainted with Howe. In fact, I was temporarily partnered with that dirtbag a few months ago while working an insurance murder in which the victim was a former cop under IA's radar."

"And?" Welker arched his eyebrows.

"Well, the case certainly caught a lot of media attention." Hughes recounted. "And I saw Sergeant Paxton feeding Howe a lot of information off the record and have seen those two together throughout the case, not that I intend in getting myself partnered with that dirtbag again."

"That figures." Welker shook his head. "And I don't blame you, man. Maybe you-"

"I gotta go now, man." Hughes suddenly said. "Paxton is entering the squad room."

"Okay." Welker nodded. "Take care."

Without waiting for a reply from Hughes, Welker quickly hung up the telephone and then sighed.

Looking towards the nearby meeting room, he can see the task force guys listening to the recording he made during the interview with Carter the night before, an hour before it all hit the fan.

He can tell them about what Hughes had told him in their phone call earlier, but that was mere speculation on Hughes' part and has too much room for error.

Scanning the squad room, his eyes settled on the television that is tuned to Fox News.

Eying the news anchor on the television screen, Welker came up with an idea and he reached for his telephone.

* * *

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	7. A scam and another phone call

Chapter 7: A scam and another phone call

Detective Welker waited patiently as he held the receiver by his left ear. It was his good ear, not the one whose hearing has been impaired as a result of a close-call during his military service in Operation Iraqi Freedom seven years back.

His waiting didn't last long, as the party on the other end of the line promptly answered.

"Hey man." Sergeant Hughes replied. "What's up?"

"Is Sergeant Paxton still in the squad room?" Welker asked.

There was a brief pause, and Welker assumed that his old partner was looking around the squad room, and then Hughes replied, "Yes she is. Why?"

"Repeat after me, in an excited voice." Welker quickly said. "'You did? Way to go, Ronnie! Who's the victim?'"

"You really did?" Hughes asked excitedly. "That's awesome, Ronnie! What's his name?"

"Good." Welker nodded. "Now that you're listening carefully, man, ask me how did a ten-year old kid came all the way here from Houston?"

"You're kidding me, Ronnie." Hughes said. "I mean, how the h*ll could a ten-year old kid came all the way here from freakin' Houston?"

"Perfect." Welker said. "Now hang up. If Paxton asks, tell her that we've identified the victim through dental records. He was a ten-year old runaway last seen in Houston way back in 1981, his parents are now on their way to Coolsville and the chief will be having a press conference on the update this afternoon, during his briefing at Coolsville Central."

"Alright, man." Hughes nodded. "Good luck."

He then hung up the telephone, and then Welker looked up, seeing his partner Detective Steven standing on the other side of his desk.

Steven had obviously heard the last bit of his conversation with Hughes, and his eyebrows were arched.

"Don't worry about that, Gary." Welker quickly said. "That was all bogus. I was setting up the leak that set us up last night. And that reporter Howe, too."

"The leak." Steven said. "Who was it?"

"An IA guy named Paxton, I think." Welker replied.

Steven simply sat down on his chair and then nodded thoughtfully.

"In the meantime, we do have a possible ID of the victim." Welker said. "His name was Barry Bradshaw, who lived in the neighbourhood when he disappeared in 1989."

"Three years before Carter moved into the neighbourhood." Steven said. "That's definitely not going to work, as I've checked the property records and found that he wasn't in the neighbourhood until 1992, like he told us last night."

"We're definitely spinning our wheels there investigating Carter, Gary." Welker said. "I can feel it. He's not our man."

"Tell that to Faux Noise." Steven said. "Oh wait, you can't. They're run by stubborn elephants who makes noise and causes nothing but trouble."

It was then that Welker's phone rang, and the senior detective picked it up.

"She just left the squad room, Ronnie." Hughes said as soon as Welker answered.

"You told her everything, huh?" Welker asked.

"Yes, I did." Hughes nodded. "I gave her what you've told me and she kept askin' me questions as if I was in an interrogation, that dirtbag."

"Well, if we're lucky, the 'update' you gave her should be on the noon edition of Fox Noise." Welker said. "I'm gonna check it out."

"Sure thing, man." Hughes replied. "Take care and be careful."

"I sure will." Welker nodded before hanging up.

He then turned to his partner and added, "By the way, we've got Chief Rogers' task force in the interview room over there investigating last nights events. That includes the media leak."

"Sheez." Steven said. "Should you tell the task force what Nathaniel told you earlier?"

"Right now, I'd rather hold off until we get a better lay of the land." Welker said. "Because I wanna be very sure about the leak, if you know what I mean."

"Ronnie, this is Chief Rogers we're talking about here." Steven says. "He's one of the cleanest brass members over at Central, and you're suggesting we withhold information from his task force?"

"I am aware of that, but you do know that if we recklessly provide him information, it may end up backfiring on us if that information turned out to be false." Welker said. "I just wanna be sure. Last thing we need is to end up giving Deputy Chief Rogers more trouble than he needs to handle, especially with s**t hitting the fan last night."

"Right then." Steven nodded thoughtfully.

"Anyways, let's check in on the Needle." Welker suggested.

Steven nodded as he and Welker got up from their seats and made their way to the lieutenant's office, where Lieutenant Deedle was seated at her desk going through some reports.

The lieutenant looked up as Welker knocked on the door, and she paused as she put down her reading glasses.

"Mind if we turn on the television and check out the Fox Noise noon report, Lieutenant?" Welker asked as he and Steven made their way into Deedle's office, nodding at the flat screen television set in Deedle's office as he spoke.

"Be my guest." Deedle nodded. "I'm sure Captain Spears and Deputy Chief Rogers are also watching the news as we speak."

Welker nodded as he grabbed the remote and turned on the television, and first thing he did was tuning in to Fox News.

At the moment, the news was reporting on a major pileup on U.S. Route 27 in the southern outskirts of Coolsville.

U.S. Route 27 currently serves as a major link between Cincinnati and Coolsville with the portion between the two major Ohio cities being a six-lane divided highway designed up to Interstate Highway design standards, and as such it is one of the busiest highways in the state.

Eventually, the news cast moved on to the "Coolsville Dog Bone Case" and Heather Jasper Howe came into view, seated at a desk in the Fox News newsroom.

"There has been a major development in the Coolsville Dog Bone Case, where Fox News has learned that the bones found in Watson's Canyon has been identified as those of a ten-year old runaway from Houston." Howe reported.

Welker first looked at Steven, then at Deedle, who clearly had her mouth wide open in shock. He quickly motioned her to wait a moment.

"The parents of the boy, who reported him missing almost thirty years ago, are on a flight to Coolsville, en route to meet with police." Howe continued. "The remains were identified through dental records, and later this afternoon, the chief of police is expected to discuss the investigation in his pre-scheduled press conference, where he will also identify the victim. As reported on Fox News last night, police are focused on-"

At that moment, Welker quickly turned off the television and Deedle turned to him and Steven.

"Ronnie, Gary, what the h*ll is going on?" She asked.

"That was all bogus." Welker replied. "I was smoking out the leak."

"Who?" Deedle asked.

"A guy from IA named Jamie Paxton." Welker said.

He then proceeded to tell them what Hughes had told him and then outline the scam he had just pulled.

"Internal Affairs." Deedle remarked after the explanations. "Can't say I'm surprised, especially with all of those going-ons between Deputy Chief Rogers and Deputy Chief Gosnell."

She was referring to the intra-departmental skirmish between Deputy Chief Sam Rogers, Director of the Detective Bureau, and Deputy Chief Rupert Gosnell, Director of Internal Affairs, a skirmish that has been ongoing since Rogers' transfer back from New York a decade ago as a lieutenant.

It's been well-known in the department that Deputy Chief Rogers doesn't see eye-to-eye with Gosnell and the two men has frequently clashed with each other.

"Indeed." Welker nodded. "Chief Rogers has a history of distrusting Internal Affairs, and with s**t about to hit the fan in the fallout over the Carter beating last night, I'm certain Internal Affairs will only be too happy to sabotage his task force's investigation into the event."

"Not to mention the fact that IA's involvement in your last case was the very reason Chief Rogers asked the DA's office to audit IA's activities in the first place, so there's no doubt they're smarting over your role in the situation and will only be happy to get you thrown under a bus." Deedle added. "Speaking of the task force, where are the task force investigators?"

"They're in one of the interview rooms at the back listening to a recording I had of me and Howe last night." Welker replied.

"A recording." Deedle repeated. "Why didn't you tell me about it last night, Ronnie?"

"I must've forgotten about it, especially with s**t hitting the fan last night." Welker said.

"All right. I suppose we'll have to see where this goes." Deedle nodded. "You think Nat is clean on this, Ronnie?"

"He is." Welker nodded. "He was pressured by Paxton to tell her more about me last night, on what I was doing at Central doing the computer search. Paxton certainly took him for granted and leaked the info to Faux Noise and tipped off our guys into beating the s**t out of Carter while trying to arrest him."

"If she really thinks she can get away with screwing with our case, Ronnie, then she's got another thing coming when thousands of angry protesters demand that those responsible for the beating be held accountable." Steven interjected.

"Indeed." Deedle nodded. "Though nevertheless, you two need to be very careful. Ronnie has already cost IA one of its finest members and no doubt Gosnell's Gestapo is still smarting over that and will be very happy to get even with you."

"Right." Welker and Steven both nodded before the former continued, "In the meantime, we've got a possible ID that is legit that we'll be running down today."

"What about Carter?" Deedle asked.

"We're gonna let that sit until if we determine if that's the kid." Steven replied. "If it is, then the timing is wrong. The kid disappeared in '89 and Carter didn't move into the neighbourhood until '92."

"Great." Deedle's face turned to stone. "In the meantime, his buried secret has been taken onto television and has also lead to his getting the s**t beaten out of him by four of our guys, which got caught on tape and has led us to this."

"Tell Paxton about it." Welker nodded.

* * *

"Are you telling us that this is a police van?" Fred asked the woman after moments of silence. "If so, then how is it that it ended up at the car rental in the airport?"

"It was part of a plan." The woman replied. "These people have kidnapped me from my home and they must've ditched this van in the car rental to ditch suspicion while another group moved in to 'rent' this van and then carry out the job of silencing me."

"But how is it that we end up renting this van?" Daphne asked.

"Say, you guys remembered that the guy at the car rental told us that the computer network was down earlier, right?" Velma offered. "That computer network being down must've resulted in a technical glitch that mistakenly listed this van as not being allocated to another renter who has pre-booked for the van."

"That could be the case." The woman nodded.

"There's one thing I don't understand, though. How is it that you ended up in this van?" Shaggy asked. "Like, and to be more exact, why did the police kidnap you, Miss...?"

"Harewood." The woman introduced herself. "Meghan Harewood. I've got a cousin who's with the Coolsville police, and to answer your answer, young man, it's because I know too much about their involvement in criminal rackets. In fact, I am due to testify in a federal grand jury here in Gotham and got evidence that, if brought to light, will bring down two top law enforcement officers in both Gotham City and Coolsville."

"On what charges?" Daphne asked as they all arched their eyebrows.

"Human trafficking and conspiracy to commit murder." Harewood replied. "Commissioner Peter Pauling is involved in the racket alright, and he's got help from Mason, who was involved in the racket during his time as a deputy commissioner of the Gotham City police prior to his transfer to Coolsville."

The gang all shared a look with each other.

"I certainly don't like the sound of this." Daphne remarked.

"Me neither." Shaggy agreed.

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Harewood continued. "My contacts in other parts of the country have reported that this human trafficking ring also involves officials in neighbouring Metropolis, Coast City over in California, Keystone City in Kansas, Central City in Missouri, New Orleans, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Detroit."

"And the centre of this racket is right here in Gotham, eh?" Fred folded his arms.

"Exactly." Harewood nodded. "And as you kids know, there are many in the police department who are only too happy to stop my attempts to whistleblow the involvement of police in the human trafficking ring."

There was some more silence as the group digested the latest information.

"I really, really do not like the sound of all of this." Daphne shook her head.

"Yeah." Shaggy and Scooby both nodded. However, before the former could continue, the cell phone that was left in the dashboard of the van rang.

"That cell phone was left in the dashboard when we picked it up yesterday, Ms. Harewood." Daphne said.

"It was left behind by the bastards that did this to me." Harewood said. "It was a way for them to communicate with their confederates picking up the van and finishing me off."

"Well, we're about to find out what the caller is asking for." Fred said as Daphne answered the telephone, putting it on speaker as she did so.

"Hello?" Daphne asked.

"Ah, I was hoping that you'd answer." The party on the other end replied. "I wanted...to apologize for my behaviour earlier. You see, there seems to be a mix-up at the car rental where my group have left our van at."

"How did you know about the mix-up at the car rental?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I was speaking to the other group earlier." The man replied. "They told me that they couldn't find the van that they were supposed to pick up at the car rental, and upon inquiring the staff at the car rental, they were informed of the mix-up, in which the van was rented to a George Blake."

"That's my father." Daphne said. "He's here in Gotham for a business conference and when we arrived from Coolsville yesterday afternoon, we were told by the clerk of the computer network problems and then they gave my father the van afterwards."

"Ah, that clear things up, Miss Blake." The man nodded on the other end, even though Daphne couldn't see him.

"And who am I speaking to?" Daphne asked.

"Detective Donald Ford of the Major Crimes Unit of the Gotham City Police Department." Detective Ford replied. "Anyways, I was hoping that you'll meet with me later today, as the van has a cargo that my group and I must have."

Daphne looked up towards the gang and Ms. Harewood, her hand covering the mouthpiece as she did so.

Ms. Harewood turned to Fred and whispered something, then Fred walked to Daphne and said, "Just go along with it for now so we can buy Ms. Harewood some time, besides there's no point letting that detective know that we know what they've done to Ms. Harewood."

Daphne nodded before placing the cell phone by her ear and said, "Oh, I believe that your other group is expecting to pick up the handgun you've left on the van, are they, Detective Ford?"

"Why...er...yes." Ford nodded on the other end of the phone. "You see, er, Miss Blake, we're taking part in an undercover operation at the airport...in conjunction with the Gotham Airport Authority to put a stop to an international smuggling ring, and me leaving the gun in the glove compartment of the unmarked undercover van was part of our undercover operation at the airport."

Daphne, covering the mouthpiece, shared a look with the others as Ford spoke, and Ms. Harewood simply shook her head.

Daphne nodded as Ford continued, "We didn't expect the computer network at the car rental to go down and thus resulting in the mix-up."

"Not to worry, Detective Ford." Daphne said. "We'll hand your gun back to you and you can carry on with your undercover operation with your team."

"Oh yes, don't worry about the van." Ford said. "We've gotten another van from the department, so no need to worry about that."

"Right then." Daphne said. "So where are we to meet?"

"Over at the Docklands at Miller Harbor." Ford replied. "Warehouse 39."

"Alright, we're on our way." Daphne nodded before hanging up.

As Daphne hung up, the group gathered closely together.

"So what's next?" Fred asked Ms. Harewood as they gathered closely together.

"I know someone who has helped me in my work." Ms. Harewood said. "I just hope he hasn't chickened out on being part of the whistleblowing."

"Is it because someone has been threatening him?" Velma asked.

"He never let those threats get in his work, though he has a young daughter and so he's more worried about any possible repercussions from his helping me in my whistleblowing." Ms. Harewood said.

"Well, if that's who you'll be meeting with, Ms. Harewood, then let's go." Fred said. "Before Detective Ford, if he's really involved in what you're trying to uncover, knows that we've freed you and sends officers to track us down."

"Right, then." Ms. Harewood nodded.

With that, the group boarded the van with Fred and the girls seated at the front while Shaggy, Scooby and Ms. Harewood sat at the back.

* * *

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	8. Another phone call & a meeting

Chapter 8: Another phone call and a meeting at Central

It wasn't long before the group of six have driven into the outskirts of Gotham City, where they drove by a sign saying, "Entering Kane County; Blüdhaven: 15 Miles"

"Ms. Harewood, where are we going?" Fred asked as the whistleblower drove on.

"To where help lives at." Ms. Harewood replied. "I just hope he hasn't given up on the cause since those police officers kidnapped me five days ago."

"I take it that you don't want to discuss what was it like being held captive by those wearing the badge." Velma said.

"What I went through was deep h*ll." Ms. Harewood said. "And it's also why exactly I need to finish my cause and get the information to District Attorney Janet Van Dorn's office."

"And I hope we're quick about it." Shaggy added. "Because in addition to not letting Detective Ford find out what we're actually doing, it's almost two and I'm sure we all can use a lunch break."

"As much as I want to stop for lunch, I'm afraid lunch is gonna have to wait, Shag." Velma said. "What Ms. Harewood is doing is very important, not just for herself, but also for..."

She was interrupted when the cell phone that was initially found in the glove compartment started ringing.

"Oh, what does Detective Ford want now?" Fred asked.

"I'll bet that he wants to know what's the hold up in the delivering of the service weapon." Velma said as Daphne answered.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Miss Blake." Detective Ford's voice can be heard on the other end of the line. "I'm calling to ask what's taking you so long to deliver the cargo to me at the docks?"

"Oh, sorry about that, Detective Ford." Daphne replied. "We're on the highway right now, and...uh...we've encountered some noontime heavy traffic...caused by a traffic accident ahead, from what I've heard on the radio earlier."

There was a pause from the other end of the line, and during this time, Daphne shared a look with her friends.

"Ah, okay." Ford's voice finally came. "Just be quick with your delivery, Miss Blake. I can't risk compromising the undercover mission because of your punctuality."

The detective then hung up the phone without another word, and Daphne huffed as she put down the cell phone.

"That detective sure got some nerve demanding me in being punctual." She said.

"Tell me about it." Ms. Harewood nodded as they drove through a residential neighbourhood.

* * *

A short while later, the group arrived at their destination. Ms. Harewood shifted the van into park before getting off the van.

"Stay in the van." She instructed the gang. "I shouldn't take too long."

The gang all nodded as they watched the lawyer made her way towards the nearby brown house.

The gang looked on as Ms. Harewood knocked on the front door before waiting outside the closed door for several moments.

Scooby's stomach growled as they looked on, but the Great Dane ignored it.

After what felt like days, the front door finally opened after Ms. Harewood's persistent knocking and doorbell-ringing, revealing a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

The gang looked on as the two adults spoke to each other, but the man was clearly reluctant to meet with Ms. Harewood.

"You don't understand, Meghan." The man said. "They've sent men to my daughter's school! Their message is clear: Either I back off from the case or I don't see my daughter again."

"But Kenneth-" Ms. Harewood attempted to say, only for the man to cut in.

"I'm really sorry, Meghan." He said. "I really am, but Janice is all I've got left since Linda was killed in that car accident two years ago. I really wish I could find another way to help you, but I don't see a way that could guarantee my daughter's safety, especially in a place like Gotham where their institutions are rotten to the core."

At that remark, Kenneth then closed the door, leaving Ms. Harewood frustrated. Not at him, but at the way things has turned out.

With a frustrated sigh, Ms. Harewood raised her arms before making her way back to the van, where the gang was watching her.

"He can't help us?" Fred asked as Ms. Harewood got onto the driver's seat.

"Unfortunately, Commissioner Pauling has dispatched men to his daughters school!" Ms. Harewood said. "Can you believe that?! That fiend!"

"Then what are we gonna do?" Shaggy asked. "I mean, that man is a lawyer who's working out of the DA's office, right?"

"Yes." Ms. Harewood nodded. "Kenneth Matheson is an Assistant District Attorney who's been of great help for my cause, trying to gather evidence for District Attorney Van Dorn."

"And Commissioner Pauling is determined to make sure whatever you've uncovered doesn't see the light of the day in the grand jury, huh?" Daphne asked.

"Exactly." Ms. Harewood nodded again. "That bastard's got men monitoring his communications, and he even sent men to his daughter's school to send him a message. That bastard! I swear that when this is all over, I'll see to it that Pauling and his goons are convicted for illegal surveillance and violating civil rights."

"Well, if he won't help us, then we will." Fred declared.

Ms. Harewood arched her eyebrows at the remark.

"You kids can help?" She asked.

"Sure, we can." Velma nodded. "We help people with their problems, and believe it or not, we actually 'helped' the Coolsville police solve cases now and then."

"Cases that 'baffled' the Coolsville police and deemed 'too complicated'." Daphne added.

"I can imagine." Ms. Harewood nodded. "Here in Gotham, the police require the assistance of a bat-shaped vigilante to solve cases."

"You mean the Batman?" Daphne asked.

"That guy's only a legend." Fred said.

"The same way you can say that the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt, Dog Wonder are legends in Coolsville?" Shaggy argued.

"Well, it's only because we've rarely been seeing the Daring Duo lately, Shaggy." Fred pointed out. "And besides, no one actually knows what the Batman looks like."

"One thing I do know is that our previous police commissioner, James Gordon, has made regular contact with the Dark Knight and he has made his efforts to clean up the police department before being ousted from the job by Mayor Hill." Ms. Harewood said.

"Mayor Hamilton Hill, you mean?" Velma asked.

"Yes, he's the one who appointed that stooge Peter Pauling to replace James Gordon." Ms. Harewood nodded. "Things have gotten worst since Gordon was ousted, and I'm guessing the reason why I haven't been able to enlist the help from our Dark Knight is because of Mayor Hill's declaring him to be a dangerous outlaw who needs to be captured and brought to justice."

"Even after all the good he has done to Gotham City?" Shaggy asked.

Although he doesn't know much about the Batman's operations in Gotham, Shaggy has read plenty of news articles detailing the Dark Knight's exploits in Gotham and has drawn up parallels between him and the Blue Falcon, regarding them both as heroes who have sacrificed a lot for the good of the city.

"Doesn't matter." Ms. Harewood shook her head. "That short-sighted idiot only cares about good press and making sure he gets a mention in the evening news, not to mention that the tabloids are on his side for his crusade against the Batman."

"Jinkies." Velma whistled.

There was some silence before Ms. Harewood realized something.

"Oh hey, I don't think you kids have introduced yourselves." Ms. Harewood said. "After all, I've already introduced myself."

"Oh, we must've forgotten about that, especially given the circumstances that shaped our first encounter." Fred said.

"Speaking of which, I apologize for doubting your characters." Ms. Harewood said. "After all they've did to me, it's hard for me to trust anyone."

"No worries, I've been through that." Daphne said.

"Anyways, I'm Frederick Jones." Fred introduced himself. "My father is Coolsville District Attorney Jefferson Jones, though most people calls him 'Skip'."

"I see." Ms. Harewood nodded thoughtfully. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Jones."

"And I'm Daphne Blake." Daphne said. "As I mentioned earlier, my father George is a businessman who's here in Gotham for a business conference with Wayne Enterprises."

"I'm Velma Dinkley." Velma introduced herself as Daphne shook hands with Ms. Harewood. "Nice meeting you."

"My pleasure." Ms. Harewood nodded before turning to Shaggy and Scooby.

"The name's Rogers." Shaggy introduced himself, offering his hand as he spoke. "Norville Rogers, but everyone calls me Shaggy. My father is Deputy Chief Sam Rogers of the Coolsville Police Department, and I'm presuming that your cousin who's with Coolsville police is Assistant Chief Derek Harewood, right?"

"Nice meeting you, Mr. Rogers." Ms. Harewood said as she shook Shaggy's offered hand. "And yes, you are correct. Cousin Derek has been with the Coolsville police since the late-1970s and has regularly told me of his perils in a police department whose corruption rivals that of Gotham's."

"That, we can see." Shaggy nodded before gesturing towards Scooby and added, "And how can we forget my best friend and old buddy, Scooby Doo?"

"Ah, you must've been a cute pup when you were younger, Scooby." Ms. Harewood said as she rubbed Scooby's head.

"Rice ro meet rou, Rs. Harewood." Scooby suddenly spoke, much to Ms. Harewood's surprise.

With a gasp, she retreated her hand before turning to the others.

"He talks?" She asked them in surprise.

"Yeah, he does." Velma nodded. "Everyone in his family can speak."

"Mind if I ask how?" Ms. Harewood raised an eyebrow.

Before anyone could respond, the cell phone that was initially found in the glove compartment rang again.

There was a groan and a sigh from the gang.

"What does that Detective Ford want now?" Fred asked.

"We're about to find out." Daphne said as she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Miss Blake." The detective's voice came on the other end.

"What can I do for you, Detective Ford?" Daphne asked. "In case you're wondering, the traffic ahead had just cleared and we're about to reach the Miller Harbor in about half an hour, and-"

"That's not why I'm calling, Miss Blake." The detective cut in, and Daphne can detect a tone of suspicion in his voice. "You weren't telling me the whole story."

"About what?" Daphne asked, and her companions shared a look with each other in concern. "Like I told you earlier-?"

"You're not on your way to the Miller Harbor, are you?" Ford asked.

"Uh...yes we are." Daphne said. "Like I said-"

"Bulls**t." Ford cut in sharply. "You do realize that the van has a GPS tracking device like all undercover police vehicles, huh? I have my guys search up the number, and your GPS position places you in Kane County."

At that remark, Daphne turned to the others on the van, her hand on the receiver as she looked at them in concern.

Ms. Harewood shook her head and it was then that some weird noises came from the front.

"What the h*ll are you doing all the way in Kane County, Miss Blake?" Ford continued. "Is there something you're not-"

"I have to cut you loose, Detective." Daphne quickly cut in. "The engine's been acting funny in the past few minutes, and-"

She was interrupted by the sound of a tire blowing, and then she added, "We just had a tired blow-out! Must've ran over a fallen sharp object in the road. We better stop and check on the tires. Bye!"

Swiftly, she then hung up the phone before Ford could respond.

The group looked at each other after Daphne hung up.

"We really don't have engine troubles or a flat tire, do we?" Ms. Harewood asked.

"Don't worry, Shag's got that covered." Fred said as he pointed at Shaggy.

"Covered?" Ms. Harewood asked as she turned to Shaggy. "How?"

"Through my ventriloquism." Shaggy said. "In addition to my ability to imitate noises as part of my job doing the announcements on the school's radio network."

It was then that what sounded like a hair dryer came from the glove compartment, and when Ms. Harewood opened it, she found nothing inside, other than the owner's manual and another set of keys.

"Wow." She nodded. "Pretty impressive."

"Anyways, we'd better get moving." Fred suggested.

"And how do we get to District Attorney Van Dorn's office without getting caught by police?" Velma asked. "If Detective Ford's claim that this van has a GPS tracking device is true and he figures out that we've freed Ms. Harewood, then we're basically sitting ducks if he decides to send in the S.W.A.T team after us."

"And if we keep staying here without moving, we're sitting ducks as well." Daphne urged. "We really need to get moving."

"You better drive, Mr. Jones." Ms. Harewood suggested. "Can't let the police figure out that you kids have set me free."

"I was thinking of doing that." Fred nodded. "You better stay at the back with Shag and Scooby."

"Good idea." Ms. Harewood nodded. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get moving before Ford puts two and two together."

Everyone else nodded as they took their seats, buckled up and Fred shifted the van into drive before they drove off.

* * *

Back in Coolsville, that afternoon, Deputy Chief Sam Rogers sat behind his desk in his large office at the eighth floor of Coolsville Central.

Also seated in the room were Lieutenants Sarah Deedle and Nelson McCormick, Sergeants Butler and Hughes, Detectives Wilkins, Welker and Steven.

Sam's adjutant, Lieutenant Mark Krebs, stood at the open doorway and was accompanied by Detective Charlie Chan.

They were both standing by the open doorway, not just in case they were needed, but also in case someone from Internal Affairs decides to crash the meeting.

Sam looked at everyone in his office and Welker can notice the grey hair developing on his sides. It was clear that the stress from his decades of investigating crimes scenes, some gruesome, and dealing with the everyday stress as a member of the department's command staff, has taken a toll on his youthfulness.

There were several files and reports on Sam's desk, and it was clear that Sam had went through a lot of reading before calling the meeting.

As everyone took a seat, Sam took off his reading glasses and gently rubbed his eyes. Then, he picked up a pencil as he looked at everyone in attendance.

"Well, everyone." Sam began after everyone was seated. "As we all know, Alexander Carter, a man who had served time for drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion, was beaten unconscious by four officers from the Meyerwood Division at around 19:27, which was approximately an hour after he was interviewed by Detectives Ronald Welker and Gary Steven."

Everyone else present in the room all nodded.

"And prior to the brutal beating, shortly after the interview, Detectives Welker and Steven had a run-in with reporters, who somehow got wind of their intent to interview Carter." Sam continued before turning to Butler and added, "According to Detective Welker's recording of his and Steven's interview with Carter and their subsequent run-in with the reporters, there was no indication that the two investigators were responsible for leaking the information."

"Is that right, gentlemen?" McCormick asked the two detectives at the Meyerwood Division homicide desk.

"Yes, sir." Welker nodded.

"And Sergeant Hughes told us that you were in Coolsville Central to do some computer work before heading over to interview Carter when the hit came up, Detective Welker." Sam said to Welker. "Can you tell us what had brought you to headquarters to do the computer work, Detective?"

"Yes, Chief, I can." Welker nodded. "So yesterday afternoon, I came to Central to use the micro-fibe reader and comb through the not-yet digitized missing children reports from the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on the reports where the missing child, who has not been located, fits the profile of our victim."

"Okay." Sam nodded. "Please go on."

"So anyways, the searching through those files took me the whole afternoon, and I had a dinner engagement with my sister and her family that night." Welker continued. "And given that her house is located closer to Central than from the Meyerwood station, I thought that I might as well as do my computer work at Major Crimes to save time, so I went up to the squad room, saw Sergeant Hughes and asked him if I can borrow his computer to do the computer work, which he said yes."

"And that was when you came up with the hit on Alexander Carter." McCormick asked.

"Yes, sir." Welker nodded.

"Right, then." Sam said. "Sergeant Hughes had filled us in on what happened next after you left Central, mainly his run-in with Sergeant Jamie Paxton of Internal Affairs, who asked him on what you were doing at Central."

"Those dirtbags from Internal Affairs." McCormick said. "They sure are bent on causing trouble for us."

"They sure are, especially when they're under the charge of Gosnell." Sam nodded in agreement.

"Not to mention his protege Captain Steve Garland, who's nothing more than the type of guy who's eager to kiss Gosnell's a** is ramping up more Internal Affairs stings." McCormick interjected.

"Indeed." Sam nodded. "Anyways, after listening to your recording, Detective, we can determine that both you and your partner had absolutely nothing to do with the leak, nor did you gentlemen have anything to do with tipping off the four officers and did that to Carter an hour after your interview with him."

"And with Sergeant Hughes telling us more about what has happened behind the scenes, namely his run-in with Sergeant Paxton, we can certainly be sure on what exactly happened that led to last night's newscast." McCormick added. "As well as the beating."

"Yes." Wilkins nodded. "After some digging around, we found that Paxton was assigned to the Meyerwood Division before getting assigned to IA after two years in patrol."

"Typical ambitious cop always eager to get out of patrol three years before hand." Deedle remarked.

Everyone else in the room all nodded. Typically, in order to become a detective, an officer is required to spend five years in patrol before being eligible to take the detective's test and receive the promotion upon passing the test.

However, an exception to the five-year requirement is if the officer decided to join Internal Affairs, where the minimum requirement is two years in patrol instead of the usual five.

"Anyways, and another thing we found out was that during her two years in patrol at Meyerwood, Paxton was partnered with now-Sergeant Edward O'Toole." Butler added.

"O'Toole." Steven repeated. "The guy that led the three officers in Carter's arrest and subsequent beating."

"What a tool, that guy." Hughes nodded. "I never liked that guy, back when I was still at Meyerwood."

"Is it possible that Paxton was not just responsible for leaking Carter's criminal record to Faux Noise, but also tipping off O'Toole and his squad to track down Carter?" Deedle asked.

"For the former, it's a sure thing, Lieutenant, considering the scam Detective Welker had pulled in order to fully identify the leak." Sam said. "As for the latter, it's pure speculation, and unless you guys find concrete evidence that actually backs that theory up, it'll be difficult to prove."

"I'm certain those dirtbags wouldn't talk." McCormick said. "And what complicates matters is that Paxton is an Internal Affairs investigator."

"Which will certainly put us on a collision course with IA." Sam sighed. "Not that I'm surprise that things will come to this."

"Sir, if I may." McCormick suggested. "I believe that we should take a good look at the IA files detailing citizen complaints that were filed against the department for officer misconduct."

"Is there a reason for the suggestion, Lieutenant?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Other than the possibility that you believe that the Carter beating was not a single, isolated instance of misconduct but a result of a culture manifested from the deep-rooted rot that began after Harland's retirement back in '85?"

"That's a possibility, sir." McCormick nodded. "Especially when you consider the Guns and Gangs Scandal last year and Scheer's role in the cover-ups."

Sam sighed again, but this was short-lived as he immediately nodded.

"You may be onto something, Lieutenant." Sam nodded. "Go ahead, but trend carefully. This is Internal Affairs we're talking about here, and they'll go at great lengths to protect the department's reputation and secrets."

"You mean dark secrets that will certainly lead to s**t hitting the fan, pardon my language, when the public gets wind of them, Chief?" Steven asked.

"Something like that, Detective." Sam nodded again.

"In the meantime, what about the case?" Deedle asked.

Sam turned to the Meyerwood detective commander at the question.

"Carry on with your investigation as usual." He said as he looked at Deedle, Welker and Steven. "But like I said, trend carefully. Internal Affairs is certainly still smarting over Detective Welker costing them one of their best investigators from the Briggs case five months ago, and I can guarantee that they'll do anything to mess with your case."

"Right, then." Welker nodded. "Other than that, where is the task force heading in its directions, besides the IA files?"

"We'll continue to figure things out on what exactly lead to Sergeant O'Toole and his squad beating the stuffing out of Carter last night." Sam said. "And even though it was four officers against an uncooperative man with a criminal record, their use of tasers and beating in the arrest was excess."

"Not to mention the racist slur." Hughes added.

"Yes, that too." Sam nodded.

He then raised his hand and motioned Chan and Krebs into his office before he continued, "Detective Chan, you and Sergeant Hughes will handle the Meyerwood Four investigations, considering that both of you currently do not have a case."

"Yes, sir." Chan nodded as Hughes got up.

"Sergeant Butler, you and Detective Wilkins will handle the IA files." Sam continued. "Nelson, you'll continue to keep me apprised on the developments."

"Yes, sir." McCormick nodded.

"Lieutenant." Sam turned to Deedle. "Keep me and Captain Spears in the loop on developments in the 'bone case'."

"Right, sir." Deedle nodded.

"And Mark, set up a conference call with Assistant District Attorney Richardson, Assistant Chief Harewood, Chief Mason and Councilman Chiles." Sam turned to his adjutant. "We're about to give them some news that they'll certainly won't like."

"Right away, sir." Krebs nodded as everyone else in the room stood up, Welker slapping his hand on the desk in the process, as if he was a judge or a parliamentary speaker cracking the gavel at the end of a court or legislative session.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	9. A conversation and the police checkpoint

Chapter 9: A conversation and the police checkpoint

A short while later, Sam was in his conference with the four men, thought it was clear that the chief wasn't exactly satisfied with the progress.

"You're full of s**t accusing an Internal Affairs investigator of breaking departmental policy, Rogers." Mason said in annoyance. "You don't have evidence backing your theory up! It was mere speculation."

"Then, how is it that Detective Welker's story ended up on the noon report of Fox News?" Richardson huffed. "He only told his old partner at your Major Crimes Division about the 'update', and-"

"Everyone knows that Fox News is an unreliable news source, Mr. Richardson." Mason cut in. "That was obviously fake news, because I wasn't even going to mention the update to the Bone Case in my afternoon briefing at Central, and-"

"Would you let me finish, Mason?!" Richardson cut in as he slammed his fist onto the table. "I know that 'update' wasn't true, given what Rogers had told us earlier, and I know that Fox Noise is nothing but hot air."

"And yet the fact that Faux Noise was able to get information from within the department means that we've got serious leakage issues to handle." Harewood interjected. "And we all know that Sergeant Hughes was forced by Sergeant Paxton of Internal Affairs to tell her more about the case, from what we've got in the reports."

"And from the reports, we also learned that Sergeant Paxton is well-acquainted with Heather Jasper Howe of Fox News, who was also the first reporter to break the news on Alex Carter's criminal record last night." Sam added. "And with the fact that Sergeant Paxton is well-acquainted with Sergeant O'Toole, who is currently put on leave as a result of his role in the Carter beating last night, you do understand why we're zeroing in on Internal Affairs in our investigation, right?"

"I do." Richardson nodded.

"As do I." Harewood said as Councilman Chiles nodded in agreement.

Mason drew his hand onto his forehead before sighing.

"Rogers, when I asked you to lead this task force and investigate last night's beating, I only wanted you to find out why Sergeant O'Toole and his squad did what they did last night when confronting Carter." He said. "I did not ask that you find out Internal Affairs' role in-"

"Sorry, Chief Mason, but the fact that an Internal Affairs investigator is involved in this certainly warrants investigating Internal Affairs itself." Chiles cut in before Mason could finish.

"Councilman Chiles is right." Richardson nodded. "This department has a history in covering up and not properly investigating its mishaps, scandals and cases of police misconduct, so it shouldn't be a surprise that Internal Affairs is itself part of the problem facing the Coolsville Police Department, Chief Mason."

There was another sigh coming from Mason, and then Harewood decided to ask.

"So where is the investigation heading into at the moment, Sam?" He asked.

"Right now, Detective Charles Chan and Sergeant Nathaniel Hughes are to meet with the four officers involved in the Carter beating in the Meyerwood station." Sam replied. "Sergeant Geoff Butler and Detective Linda Wilkins are handling the IA files on citizen complaints on officer misconduct while the bone case investigations are carried on."

"Right, then." Harewood nodded.

"I've got a feeling that wherever the investigation leads your task force to isn't gonna be pretty, Deputy Chief Rogers." Richardson said. "I suggest that you keep on your guard. I'm very certain that there are a lot of people in the department who are willing to derail your investigation in order to protect the police department's reputation."

"Of course." Sam nodded.

There was another sigh from Mason, who finally spoke up, "Gentlemen, will you all be kind enough to step aside so I can speak to Deputy Chief Rogers in private?"

"What are the two of you discussing, Chief Mason?" Richardson raised an eyebrow.

"It's something that only concerns him and I, not any of you." Mason replied nonchalantly.

The men in the room shared a look with each other, and Sam nodded at Harewood, assuring him that he can handle his meeting alone with Mason on his own.

Harewood nodded as he followed Richardson and Chiles in getting up from their seats and exiting Mason's office.

Once they were alone in the office, Mason leaned forward on his desk.

"You do realize what your task force is about to uncover is not going to bode well for the department, do you, Rogers?" He asked.

"Of course, I know that." Sam said as he folded his arms. "What are you suggesting, Chief Mason?"

Mason leaned closer to Sam and lowered his voice so no one outside the door could hear him.

"Your excess investigation will be the end of the CPD as we know it, Rogers." He said angrily. "Internal Affairs is capable of doing its job of weeding out bad apples."

"Not when a bad apple is placed in charge of IA." Sam retorted. "You know d*mn well that Gosnell is one of those bad apples that preferred the old ways."

"Doesn't matter." Mason said before leaning back on his chair and sighed. "You know why Strickland have you transferred to New York in '85 and then have you brought back in '01?"

Sam frowned but didn't reply, as he figured that he already knew the answer and that Mason didn't need him to reply.

Leaning back forward towards Sam, Mason pointed at him in the chest as he continued.

"He was hoping that you have reinvented yourself while you were in New York and that you deserved another chance to be a team player." He said. "Instead, he was mistaken. You're not a team player, you don't go by the rules of the team and you do things your way. This messes up the dynamic of the way this department operates. You're an outsider whose place should be New York and not Coolsville."

"Coming from someone who was transferred in from Gotham City." Sam scoffed.

"Which is different." Mason said before Sam could continue. "Because the Gotham City Police Department has the same team dynamic and culture as Coolsville does, Rogers. The NYPD doesn't. As I said, your way of running things in the department is hindering the dynamic, the synergy, which is best maintained under the way things are before you came along and meddled with it."

"And you know what is wrong with the status quo, Mason?" Sam huffed. "The people of this city doesn't trust the police in doing its job. To them, the motto 'To serve and protect' means nothing when the department itself is riddled with bad apples. The department is a laughing stock in the whole state, Mason! You do understand that Coolsville will certainly go through what Los Angeles went through in '92 if we don't fix this problem, do you?"

"Those people demonstrating on the streets don't understand how this department is supposed to run and operate, Rogers." Mason retorted. "They're just a bunch of crybabies who should be grateful for the positive aspects of the city, more so by the fact that there's no anarchy."

"Yeah, I'm sure they're thankful to have a police force that doesn't treat visible minorities on equal footing." Sam replied sarcastically. "In today's society, this mode of policing is no longer sustainable, and for those that think that tough punishment will deter people from committing crimes...yeah sure, with the country's prisons becoming increasingly overcapacity, it's completely inhumane."

"Those criminals should've known the consequences before doing what they were going to do." Mason said. "If they get caught and sent to prison, it's their own fault for not taking care of themselves, being at the wrong place at the wrong time and being from an area stigmatized for high poverty and crime."

"By that logic, people should never be given a chance to succeed in life just because of their background." Sam huffed as he stood up. "This is illogical, Chief Mason. You never know how successful people came to be at their position. Some grew up in poor backgrounds, some even grew up in slums and yet in spite of that, they defied the odds and managed to stand out and succeed in life."

He then turned and made his way towards the door.

"Where are you going, Rogers?" Mason asked.

"Back to work." Sam replied without stopping. "I'm done. This has been a complete waste of my time, Mason."

"You do realize that there are going to be casualties if you don't heed our discussion, Rogers!" Mason said as Sam opened the door and walked out.

"Of course there will be." Sam snorted as he exited Mason's office, not bothering to close the door behind him.

Harewood was at the elevators when he saw Sam making his way down the hall.

"What did Mason say, Sam?" He asked.

"That dirtbag has got the nerve to tell me that the status quo in the way the department is running is the best and that my unwillingness to engage the team rules is hurting synergy, Harewood." Sam scoffed.

Harewood scoffed in response.

"Can't say I'm surprised." He shook his head. "Given that he was brought over from Gotham, and we do know that Gotham's nothing more than a h*llhole, Sam. Things in Gotham has gotten worse, especially since Hamilton Hill was elected mayor just last year."

"Oh yes, I know." Sam nodded. "My pal James Gordon was the commissioner of the GCPD, and he was doing his best in cleaning things up before he was ousted by Hill, who installed that stooge Peter Pauling as his replacement."

"And I do know that back in the day, Pauling was the captain in charge of the GCPD's infamous 3rd Precinct while Loeb was commissioner." Harewood added. "During which Mason was the deputy chief serving as the executive officer of the GCPD Organized Crime Control Bureau."

Harewood, in his saying of the infamous 3rd Precinct, was referring to the GCPD precinct's reputation as the worst precinct and among the most corrupt in Gotham.

The GCPD precinct in question, as a matter a fact, has become a pastor boy for police brutality, corruption, misconduct and a catalyst of the increased gang violence in Gotham City's East End.

"Oh, things were certainly worse back then before their Batman showed up." Sam nodded. "Just like how things were here in Coolsville before the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt showed up."

"Speaking of which, where the h*ll are they lately?" Harewood turned to Sam.

"Don't know." Sam shrugged. "They sure have a tendency to disappear just when we were going to need them the most, such as during last year's Blake kidnapping case."

"Tell me about it." Harewood nodded.

* * *

Back in Gotham, it wasn't long before the group were back in Gotham City and as they drove past the "Welcome to Gotham City" sign, they were feeling more anxious by the minute, bracing for any possible run-ins with police.

It was almost 16:30 when they were driving down the Don Cameron Memorial Highway, en route to downtown Gotham.

"Like, I sure hope we can get to the courthouse soon, Ms. Harewood." Shaggy was saying. "Because I sure got a feeling that something bad is about to happen."

"Tell me about it." Ms. Harewood nodded. "I'm sure Detective Ford's moving in to mobilize the officers to track us down, so the sooner we get there, the-"

"There's a police checkpoint up ahead, everyone." Fred announced.

Looking on forward, Velma and Daphne saw flashing lights coming from a couple of police cruisers and a lineup of cars waiting to go through the stop.

And it was clear that there are two officers stopping the cars and asking the drivers questions before letting them through.

"Oh, great." Velma said as she turned to Ms. Harewood, Shaggy and Scooby at the back. "Now what do we do?"

"Keep calm, gang." Fred said as he slowed down. "And Ms. Harewood, you better hide, in case the officers recognize you."

Everyone shared a look with each other nervously. They sure aren't liking the plan, but right now none of them can come up with a better idea.

The cars ahead of them seem to take forever to get through the checkpoint, and it felt like hours dragging by as the car in front of them was being questioned by the two cops.

Finally, it was there turn and Fred took a deep breath as he lowered his window.

"Good afternoon, officer." He said as he faced the two officers. "Is there a problem?"

One of the officers frowned when he saw Fred and the girls at the front row.

"They sure look young." The second officer said to his partner. "Ask for the boy's driver's license."

The first officer nodded before facing Fred and asked, "May I see your driver's license?"

Fred nodded as he pulled out his wallet, pulled out his driver's license and showed it to the officer.

Shaggy and Scooby both swallowed and shivered as they watched the officer examining Fred's driver's license.

Finally, the officer spoke, "You from out of town?"

"Yes, officer." Fred said as the others in the van all nodded. "We're visiting from Coolsville, Ohio."

"That, I can see." The officer said.

"Is there a problem, officer?" Velma asked. "What's with the checkpoint?"

It was the second officer who spoke.

"We're asking drivers if they've seen this woman." The officer said as he held up a wanted poster.

Fred's eyes widened as he and the girls saw the woman in the poster. It was none other than Meghan Harewood.

Glancing at the patrol car, Shaggy noticed the Be On Lookout (BOLO) visors on the car, and even though the afternoon sun was glaring in his eyes, he can make out Ms. Harewood's photo on the visors.

"Have you seen her?" The first officer asked Fred and the girls. "She's wanted for money laundering and armed robbery and is considered to be armed and dangerous."

Fred and the girls shared a look with each other before they all faced the officer and shook their heads.

"No, officer." Daphne said. "We have not."

"Are you positive?" The officer raised an eyebrow.

"We're positive, officer." Velma replied. "We would've said 'yes' if we've seen her, but truth is we haven't."

At the back, Shaggy and Scooby can both tell that Velma was forcing those words out of her mouth, and they were becoming more nervous as Scooby turned his head and saw Ms. Harewood hiding behind their seats.

"Those are trumped up charges so they can get to me and silence me." Ms. Harewood mouthed as she looked at Scooby.

Scooby nodded as the officer replied, "Huh."

The two officers then turned their attention to Shaggy and Scooby, who were both shivering.

"Maybe you guys haven't seen her." The first officer said before moving to the centre of the van and added, "But I'm sure your friends at the back have."

"Perhaps they haven't seen her, Scott." The second officer said as he nodded at Shaggy and Scooby. "It's probably more like the weed they've had, which would explain that boys hippie look."

"Maybe." Scott nodded as he knocked on the rear door window.

"Like...uh...yes, officer?" Shaggy asked nervously as soon as he lowered the window.

"Have you had anything to drink or smoke, mister?" The second officer asked.

Shaggy quickly shook his head.

"No, officer." He said. "We haven't."

"I'm sure you haven't." The officer said. "Mind if you all step outside the van so we can inspect it and ensure that it's not hiding any of the prohibited items?"

Shaggy's eyes widened as he turned to face Scooby, and then Fred and the girls at the front.

Shaggy opened his mouth and tried to say something, but no words came out.

"Sir?" The officer asked.

Shaggy swallowed as he looked first at Fred and the girls, and then at the officer, who was getting more suspicious by the minute.

"Well?" He asked.

Before Shaggy or anyone in the van could reply, the cop behind the wheel on the second cruiser, who was doing some typing on the mobile computer device, shouted.

"Jim, Scotty, you guys are not gonna believe this." He said to the two cops, who paused and turned. "But this van's one of our undercover vehicles!"

Both cops arched their eyebrows.

"You sure, Mary?" Jim asked.

"Positive." Mary nodded. "It's the one that was assigned to Detective Donald Ford of the Major Crimes Unit at Gotham Central, guys."

"Ah." Jim and Scott both nodded thoughtfully before turning to the group in the van.

"You all have a lot of explaining to do." Scott said, nodding at Fred as he spoke. "How is it that you kids end up driving an undercover police van from the Gotham City Police Department?"

"I don't think you guys are telling us the truth." Jim nodded before holding up the wanted poster and continued, "So we're going to ask again: Have you seen this woman?"

The gang shared a look with each other and didn't respond.

After sharing a look with each other Jim and Scott pulled out their weapons and aimed them at Fred.

"Put the van in park!" Scott ordered Fred. "Put it in park! I'm not gonna repeat this!"

With one arm raised, Fred reached down to shift the van in park, though he didn't engage the parking brakes.

"Now, stay right where you are, keep your hands in the air while we inspect the vehicle." Jim said as the gang all raised their arms before he and the fourth officer walked to the rear and used the department-issued multi-use keys to unlock the rear door.

However, nothing could've prepared the two officers for what happens next.

As soon as Jim opened the door, he was greeted by a kick in the chin by Harewood. The kick knocked him to the ground and the fourth officer quickly pulled out his weapon.

Scott's eyes widened when he saw Jim and the fourth officer both receiving a kick from Harewood, and he quickly moved to the rear of the van as he reached for his radio.

"Unit Five-Charlie, this is Unit Six-Bravo!" He shouted into the radio. "Officers have engaged the subject!"

As Scott moved to aim his gun at Ms. Harewood, the whistleblower quickly slammed the rear doors shut.

"Step on it, Fred!" Velma shouted.

Immediately, Fred shifted the van into drive and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, causing the van to lurch forward and speed off.

Watching the whole scene unfolding, Mary jumped out of the second cruiser with her gun drawn and she and Scott opened fire towards the fleeing van.

However, as the van continued to speed forward, Scott reached for his radio.

"Central, this is Unit Six-Bravo from the 6th Precinct." Scott shouted. "This is Code 37. Repeat. This is Code 37! Subject has escaped and is travelling westbound on the Don Cameron."

As the van sped down the highway, Fred asked, "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah." Shaggy and Scooby both said. "Man, that was a close one!"

"And now those officers know we've got Ms. Harewood with us." Daphne said. "Now they're for sure going to try to track us down."

"Which means we've gotta reach the courthouse and fast." Fred said. "Because-"

He was cut off by the sound of the cell phone ringing, and Daphne picked it up.

"Hello?" Daphne asked, though they all know what exactly was the party at the other end going to say.

"Miss Blake." Detective Ford's voice said. "I just received word from my guys that you guys managed to slip away. Quite the nerve lying to them, huh?"

Daphne frowned as she placed the phone on speaker phone before replying.

"Are you talking about us shielding Ms. Harewood, who you and your goons kidnapped, Detective Ford?" She asked as she looked at Harewood. "Because that was very cruel on your part. Being involved in a human trafficking ring is one thing, but kidnapping the whistleblower who's about to do the right thing is another."

"Ah, so I see you've spoken to the lady." Ford sneered. "Well, I was hoping that you'll do the right thing by handing her to us, because she speaks nothing but lies, that lady. Trying to tarnish the good name of Commissioner Pauling."

"Well, if you think Ms. Harewood is a liar, then darn right we're not handing her to you fiends!" Fred joined in.

"So you're not alone, Miss Blake." Ford said. "You've got company."

"That's right." Velma said. "She's in the company of a group of darn good mystery-solvers who won't stop at anything to find the truth."

"That figures." Ford said. "Well, anyway, as I told you all earlier, this van has a GPS tracker, just like all undercover police vehicles, which means we'll know it's exact location at all times. So it doesn't matter if you kids are gonna hand Meghan Harewood to us or not, because we're out in full force to get her, whether you like it or not."

The detective then chuckled as Daphne shared a look with her friends, the frown on her face deepening as he did so.

"So the ball's in your court now." Ford sneered. "Are you kids willing to do the right thing of handing Ms. Harewood to us, or are you willing to face a squad of heavily-armed SWAT officers who certainly won't hesitate to fire their weapons on you?"

There was some silence from the gang as Ford asked the question, and the gang looked at each other.

However, Shaggy, who was silent for the most part, suddenly snatched the cell phone from Daphne.

"Well?" Ford asked as Shaggy snatched the cell phone from Daphne.

"Detective Ford, this is what we're gonna do." Shaggy said, and the gang could swore that they can hear a tone of disgust in Shaggy's voice, even though he was spooked by the idea of facing a squad of heavily-armed SWAT officers. "We say, 'UP YOURS!'"

The gang were all shocked by his outburst as he made the remark. Afterall, Shaggy never had an outburst like that and it was never in his nature for him to defiantly say no.

He wasn't finished, though. Shaggy continued, "Like, if you think we're going to help you get away with your dirty work, then you're dead wrong, man, because my father knows your type, and you what he does when he faces your type at work? He says, 'UP YOURS!' and he will never hesitate to spit onto your face."

There was some silence from the other end of the line, and then Ford scoffed.

"You've made a terrible decision, whoever you are." The detective said. "You could've gotten out of this the easy way, but instead, you've chosen the hard way. Oh, well. Your loss. You kids are-"

Before Ford could finish, Shaggy immediately hung up before smashing the cell phone onto the floor, picked up the battery and stomped on the remains repeatedly, and Scooby growled angrily at the shattered pieces of the cell phone once Shaggy was done.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	10. The chase and the arrest

Chapter 10: The chase and the arrest

It had started to rain outside as the group looked on in shock and awe as Shaggy slammed the phone onto the floor while Fred floored the gas pedal.

"Shaggy. Did you just...?" Velma asked, only for Shaggy to turn to her.

"Yeah, I did." Shaggy nodded. "I was getting sick of hearing that man's voice."

"I mean, you just..." Daphne said, only for Shaggy to wave her off.

"Like, that man sure disgusts me." Shaggy said. "I mean, look at Ms. Harewood when we found her!"

Gesturing towards Ms. Harewood, he continued, "She was...just...wasn't feeling groovy at all."

"I guess you snapped when you thought of her, Shag." Fred said.

"Not just that, but also the close call we had earlier." Shaggy said. "I swear that those officers must've had some sort of SWAT or ever special ops training if they're that trigger-happy the way they are."

"Either way, since Ford has already figured out that we've freed Ms. Harewood, that means we certainly have to get to the courthouse and fast, before the mobilized police department catches up to us." Fred said.

"And we better hurry up, Freddie." Daphne added when she looked at the side mirror and saw the familiar flashing lights in the distance. "We're about to have company!"

Fred glanced at the left side mirror and seeing the flashing sirens in the distance, he knew he had to take drastic actions.

"How far is the courthouse from here, Ms. Harewood?" He asks.

"Not far." Ms. Harewood replied. "You just need to exit the highway at the upcoming interchange with Parkdale, and then turn left."

As she made the remark, Fred noticed the sign saying "Parkdale Ave.; Exit at 1 Mile"

Swiftly, he managed to get the van onto the rightmost lane after passing several cars ahead of them.

Before long, the van had exited the highway, and as per Ms. Harewood's instructions, Fred made a left turn just before the lights turn red.

As they drove down Parkdale Ave., the van ran over a large pothole, causing the van to shake violently.

Driving over the pothole, the gang all hear something dropping from under the van.

"Like, something just fell off the van." Shaggy said.

"I hope its not a part of the engine." Daphne remarked.

"I don't think so." Ms. Harewood said as she looked towards the rear of the van. "If it was, it shouldn't be flashing."

"Is it possible that it was the GPS tracker placed on van as Detective Ford said?" Velma asked as she followed Ms. Harewood's gaze and saw the flashing device lying on the floor, just before it got ran over by a bus that was changing lanes.

"I hope it is." Fred nodded. "Because if it is, then our job has gotten a whole lot easier."

"Nonetheless, we ought to be quick." Ms. Harewood said. "The longer we drag this out, the greater the chances of us getting caught."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Fred nodded again. "How long before we reach the courthouse?"

"We should get there in five minutes." Ms. Harewood said before noticing the heavy traffic ahead and added, "Though with the afternoon traffic, I won't be so sure if we can get there in five minutes."

* * *

Meanwhile, over at Gotham Central, a trio of officers and a couple of plainclothes detectives were at one of the wire-tapping rooms in the 13th Precinct monitoring the movements of an undercover van.

The 13th Precinct of the Gotham City Police Department, located in the Burnley District, functions as the headquarters of the GCPD's Guns and Gangs Bureau, the bureau of which undercover operations are coordinated at.

One of the officers was at the computer keeping an eye on the GPS location of an undercover van, and the officer was considering leaning on his chair to take a stretch when the red dot indicating the location of the van vanished.

The officer blinked before turning around on his chair, facing a shadowed meathead that is one of the two plainclothes detectives.

"Something wrong here, Detective." The officer said.

"What's the matter?" The detective asked, his face covered by the dark shadow in the room due to poor lighting.

"The GPS position of the van...it's gone!" The officer replied.

"Gone?" The detective asked as he got up from his seat. "I don't understand."

"See for yourself." The officer gestured towards the computer screen as he spoke.

The detective walked over to the computer screen and joined the other occupants of the room in leaning over to take a look at the screen.

Sure enough, the red dot indicating the GPS location of the undercover van they were tracking was nowhere to be seen.

"You've got to be f***ing kidding me." The detective slammed his fist onto the desk after a minute of silence. "Just when we were starting to get warm on finding out where those meddling kids and that b**bo were heading for."

"Where was the van at when you lost the GPS signal, Pruitt?" The second plainclothes detective asked the officer.

"Last I saw, the van had exited the Don Cameron and made a left turn onto Parkdale." Officer Pruitt replied.

"Exited the Don Cameron and made a left turn onto Parkdale." The first detective repeated.

Tapping a finger by his chin, he then added, "I believe I know where those dirtbags are heading."

"They're heading for Bill Finger, ain't they?" The second officer asked, referring to the Bill Finger Courthouse located near the borderline between Burnley and the Diamond District that houses the Office of the District Attorney of Gotham City.

"That's right." The first detective nodded. "And no doubt they'll drop by Central along the way to get Internal Affairs."

"Internal Affairs." The third officer said. "If they find out what we're up to, we're toast."

"Not if Commissioner Pauling can help it." The first detective retorted. "As long as we have the commissioner's back, Hackle can't do a d*mn thing about our operations."

"And even if Pauling's not around, we've got Forbes in Internal Affairs who can take care of Hackle." The second officer added.

"Nonetheless, we better get moving." The second detective said. "Even if they didn't drop by Central to fetch Internal Affairs, I'm sure we'll still be toast when Van Dorn finds out what we've been up to."

"Don't worry, I've got that covered." The first detective said. "The guys at the 30th are patrolling the Bill Finger. There's no way those meddling kids and that lying sack of s**t can get to Van Dorn."

"Good to hear, Don." The second detective nodded.

* * *

Back on Parkdale, the group eventually arrived at the Bill Finger Courthouse and Fred slowed down the van.

"Now that we've arrived at District Attorney Van Dorn's office, we should hurry up and go fetch for her." Ms. Harewood instructed as Fred stopped the van.

Ms. Harewood was about to open the door when she felt someone tugging her back.

Turning, she saw Shaggy tugging her back as he shook his head.

"I don't know, Ms. Harewood." He said when Ms. Harewood looked at him quizzically. "This could be a trap."

"A trap?" Velma asked. "What are you talking about, Shaggy?"

"Like, it's almost five in the afternoon, I'm pretty sure she might be gone for the day and besides, even if we managed to ditch the GPS tracker, I'm sure the guys are smart enough to figure out that we're heading here to the courthouse, especially since we've lost the tracker only after we made the left turn onto Parkdale." Shaggy said.

"Shag's got a point." Daphne nodded. "I'm sure it wouldn't take long for the police to figure out we're heading here."

"And besides, there's no one on the sidewalk right next to us." Shaggy added as he gestured to their right. "Something is up. I can feel it."

"Well, I don't see any cops around, guys." Fred argued. "We're losing time if we keep holding Ms. Harewood up."

"Yeah." Velma agreed. "We need to be quick on this, guys."

Before anyone could respond, a shot suddenly rang out from the front, followed by a crack in the windshield.

"Duck!" Fred shouted as the shot rang out, and everyone quickly took cover.

There was some silence in the van before everyone looked up.

What attracted their attention was the bullet hole in the top right side of the windshield and a bullet stuck in the cushion of the front passenger seat, where Daphne was seated at.

Before anyone could take in what just happened, another shot rang out from the front.

Like the previous shot, no one was hit, but the trajectory had entered the van through the top right and has now hit the cushion on the rightmost back passenger seat, where Ms. Harewood was seated at.

It was then that Daphne gasped as she spotted a faint outline of a police sniper on the tree ahead of them.

With a realization on what just happened, she turned to Fred and shouted, "Drive, Freddie!"

It was Velma who spotted the police sniper next, and she can tell that the sniper was busy reloading his weapon on the tree.

"What a spot to pick for that guy to shoot at us." She remarked as Fred, without hesitation, quickly shifted the van to drive and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.

As the van lurched forward, there were a few more gunshots from where the tree is at, and the group can see more heavily-armed police officers storming towards them with their weapons ready.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed at the sight. "It's the National Guard! Step on it, Freddie!"

Fred gritted his teeth without a word, and he accelerated the van to what he felt was its maximum speed.

What followed was several police sirens following them, and the group can see a whole squad of police cruisers and military-grade Quick Response Team (QRT) vehicles in close pursuit.

"Oh, come on!" Fred moaned. "Get on with it!"

"It's gonna be hard to outrun those vehicles, especially when this is an undercover police van." Velma said. "Which means we gotta find more crossroads and zig-zag our way out of here!"

"Sounds like a plan, Velms." Shaggy said as he and Scooby turned to the back and added, "Though Freddie needs to be quick on the turning part, because those guys sure aren't giving up the chase!"

As Shaggy finished the remark, one of the pursuing patrol cars accelerated and slammed on the rear of the van, causing it to lurch forward.

"Oph!" Everyone exclaimed as the van lurched forward.

"That cop is obviously one lousy driver!" Daphne complained.

"Forget about the lousy driving!" Ms. Harewood said. "If we don't lose those police officers behind us, then we're not going to make it!"

"Hang on, everyone!" Fred shouted as he jerked the steering wheel towards the left, causing the van to lurch towards the left and drove onto the perpendicular road.

With a squadron of patrol cars in hot pursuit, the van continued on down the road with several other vehicles on the road forced to move out of the way.

* * *

Meanwhile, over in an empty conference room in Wayne Enterprises, George and Bruce were chatting in private after their business conference meeting was wrapped up for the day.

"How is Radley doing lately?" George asked. "I haven't seen him around."

"When was the last time you saw him, George?" Bruce asked.

"That will be months ago, just this past spring." George said before narrowing his eyes. "Please don't tell me he's 'deep on assignment' again, Bruce."

"Well, you know him, George." Bruce shrugged. "He told me that the Blue Falcon had found someone in Coolsville's underworld that he can use as a criminal alias to gather more information in his war on crime."

"The same way Batman uses Matches Malone as his criminal alias?" George raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much." Bruce nodded.

"I guess the unsolved murders of his parents back in '84 has taken its toll on Rad." George remarked with a sigh. "Devoted himself to that sort of lifestyle...I really worry about him."

"Tell me about it." Bruce said. "Although I can relate to him."

"Right, with your parents falling victim to a mugging gone wrong in '78, Bruce, I understand what you mean." George nodded. "Though there wasn't a need for you to go down this dark path."

"What makes you think that?" Bruce asked.

"I mean, your constant devotion to trying to rid Gotham of crime, Bruce." George said. "And your reliance on painkillers to treat the trauma inflicted on you on your daily patrols at night...I really worry about your health."

"I could stop if I can." Bruce said with his face set to stone. "But Gotham needs a h*ll lot of fixing that can't be done overnight, and with the police being part of the problem facing Gotham, together with a clearly-rotten justice system that fails the victims of crime, you understand why today's not the day for me to stop my crusade, George."

"Yes, I know, since I feel the same way with regards to Coolsville." George nodded. "Though I'm sure there's a way for you to fix things up in Gotham without the need to don a frightening costume and go out on patrols at night."

"If there's another alternative for fixing Gotham, one that doesn't require unorthodox methods, George, then I'll gladly take it." Bruce said. "But like I said, with the police being part of the problem, fixing Gotham is a job that needs to be done, and it's not by choice."

George chuckled at the remark. "You're a really stubborn piece of work, Bruce. You know that?"

Bruce grunted and was about to say something when their attention was drawn to the television news.

At that moment, the MSNBC channel had begun its 18:00 newscast with local breaking news.

"Breaking news from Gotham this hour." The anchor reported. "Police has advised the public to avoid travelling on the Joe Shuster Memorial Highway, which is the site of an on-going high speed police chase."

George and Bruce shared a look with each other as the anchor continued.

"According to sources, police are in pursuit of a fugitive who is alleged to have stolen an undercover police van." She said. "And apparently, those sources have claimed that the fugitive is shielded by a group of four kids and their dog."

"Four kids and their dog?" George wondered out loud before realizing that Daphne hasn't been checking in on him during the whole day. "Oh dear. Is Daphne in trouble?"

He then turned around, only to find that Bruce had disappeared.

Looking around, George found that Bruce was nowhere to be seen, then he sighed.

"I hate it when Bruce does that." He remarked to himself.

He then turned back to face the television as the news anchor continues, "Meanwhile, over in Coolsville, the fallout over last night's brutal police beating continues as Chief of Police Gil Mason announces in an afternoon press conference that the four officers involved in the beating have been placed on leave, though the former Gotham City deputy police commissioner has so far refused to respond to calls for his resignation."

Looking at the screenshot taken from the video of the beating, George raised an eyebrow.

"I wonder how is Sam faring?" He wondered to himself before sighing. "In a city like Coolsville, I won't be surprised if things start hitting the fan soon."

He sighed again before deciding to make his way to his hotel room, but not before taking out his cell phone and dialed Daphne's number.

* * *

Meanwhile, as the sun began to set, though actually, the sun wasn't really out due to the cloudy weather that day, not to mention the late-afternoon rain, Fred is trying his best behind the wheel to keep the van ahead of the pursuing police cars as they sped down the Joe Shuster Memorial Highway.

"Man, I could've sworn that the mayor have deployed the New Jersey National Guard for the chase!" Shaggy remarked as he looked to the back for what seemed like the fifteenth time since the wild-goose chase began almost an hour ago. "Like, look at those vehicles that are taking part in the chase. You can sure see the military-grade vehicles among the cruisers!"

"Tell me about it, Shag." Fred gritted his teeth. "Can't let them get to us or Ms. Harewood, because who knows what will they do to her when we get caught."

"Better not think about that, Freddie." Velma said. "Because one of those armoured vehicles is catching up to us!"

Glancing at the rear view mirror, Fred noted that one of the GCPD QRT armoured vehicles has indeed sped up and is fast approaching them.

One of the QRT officers on board leaned forward with a grenade launcher in hand, the launcher aiming towards the rear of the fleeing van.

The officer took a moment to breath in, then with the finger on the trigger, he took aim.

Next thing the group knew, something hit the rear doors of the van.

Before anyone could comment, the rear of the van was suddenly engulfed in a deafening explosion.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he looked to the back. "I think they just blew the rear doors opened, Freddie!"

"We can feel that!" Daphne said as their hairs started flipping around with the air flow.

It was then that they heard gunshots from the sides, and as the girls turned to look around, they saw two police vehicles on the sides with the officers on board firing their weapons at the van.

"They're on both sides of the van, Freddie!" Daphne exclaimed. "Any minute now, they could shoot at the tires!"

"Not if I can help it!" Fred retorted as he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The officers on the two police vehicles were so preoccupied with trying to open fire at the van tires that they didn't have time to react when their target came to a complete stop, and by this point, they were just about to discharge their weapons.

With the van at a complete stop, the gang looked on as the officers on the two police vehicles shot at each other and ended up flattening their tires in the process, leading to the two cars to lose control and skidded to the side of the roadway.

The gang all breathed a sigh of relief, but albeit temporarily, as the sirens from the back reminded them that the chase is far from over.

Just as he slammed on the gas pedal, though, Velma suddenly said, "Shaggy, Scooby, what are you guys doing?"

"Those open doors are going to slow us down, gang." Shaggy said as he and Scooby revealed to have unbuckle their seatbelts shortly after the stop. "Scoob and I are gonna try to close the rear doors."

Just as Shaggy finished his remark, the van lurched forward as a result of Fred's slamming on the gas pedal.

"Guys, wait!" Daphne exclaimed, but it was too late.

The van's sudden lurching forward caught Shaggy and Scooby off guard, and they ended up falling over.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby started flying towards the open rear doors.

"Shaggy! Scooby!" The girls exclaimed in horror as they joined Ms. Harewood in their attempt to grab Shaggy and Scooby's arms.

However, the duo ended up sailing out of the van, where they managed to stop their flying by grabbing onto one of the opened rear doors.

"Freddie, stop!" Velma turned to Fred.

Fred quickly slammed on the brakes, causing Shaggy and Scooby to sail through the air and ended up crashing on the rear seats.

"Are you guys all right?" Daphne asked in concern.

"We won't be if the cops catches up to us!" Shaggy exclaimed as he pointed towards the rear. "Step on it, Fred!"

Fred nodded, but as soon as he slammed on the gas pedal again, they all realized that they've forgotten something.

"Oh no." Shaggy said when the van started lurching forward again and he and Scooby realized that they haven't grabbed onto something to hold onto yet.

Before anyone could react, to the horror of Fred and the girls, Shaggy and Scooby flew right out of the van and missed the opened rear doors.

The duo were almost certain to crash into one of the pursuing police cars if it weren't for Shaggy's reaching over and grabbing onto a nearby lamp post and Scooby grabbing onto his legs.

However, their troubles were only set to worsen. No sooner did the duo settled down on the ground did the closest two police vans stopped and the officers on board jumped off with their weapons drawn.

"Hands up, you rats!" One of the officers shouted as they all aimed their weapons towards the duo.

Shaggy and Scooby, facing the group of heavily armed police officers, swallowed as they both raised their arms in surrender.

They were soon both grabbed by officers, who quickly took them to the stopped police van with one of them slamming Shaggy's head on the engine hood.

"You sure got some nerve harbouring a wanted fugitive on a stolen police van, pal." The lieutenant said to Shaggy and the officers searched him before handcuffing him. "What do you have to say for yourself, huh?"

Although Shaggy was clearly terrified, he remembered what his father told him what to do in the event of him facing bad cops.

"I believe Scoob and I both have the right to remain silent." He replied nervously but defiantly.

The officers shared a look with each other before the lieutenant sneered. "Oh, is that right?"

"Don't try to play smart with us, hippie." The sergeant said. "You and your pooch just got caught harbouring a wanted fugitive on a stolen police van. That's a serious offence, you know."

"And so is violating the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, Officer." Shaggy replied.

"Now don't you Fifth Amendment me, son." The sergeant sneered. "I know about the Constitution more than you think, and stealing police property is one of those crimes that are exempted from protections offered by the Fifth Amendment."

"So here's what you're gonna do." The lieutenant said. "You tell us where your pals are taking that lyin' sack of s**t Harewood to, and you'll be looking at a reduced sentence."

"Not a chance." Shaggy shook his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Coolsville, Deputy Chief Sam Rogers was ready to call it a night after a long day at work.

Lieutenant Mark Krebs had already headed home for the night, and it was clear that Sam could use the night for rest.

He was about to close up his computer when he suddenly spoke without turning to look.

"Good evening, Gosnell." Sam said. "Wasn't expecting you to be working late this evening."

"You're a piece of work, Rogers." Gosnell spoke as he stood by the doorway to Sam's office. "You know that?"

"What do you want?" Sam asked as he finally turned to face his nemesis. "I'd bet you're here to complain on my task force centring our investigation onto one of your investigators, eh?"

"You've got some nerve accusing Paxton of violating departmental policy, Rogers." Gosnell gritted his teeth as he pointed a finger directly into Sam's chest. "You've got no concrete proof!"

"On the contrary, Gosnell, my task force does." Sam retorted as he folded his arms. "They just got me the Internal Affairs citizen complaint files detailing officer misconduct, files that also include the complaints' in IA not properly investigating officers accused of misconduct, and those 35 files I received this late afternoon are just for this year alone. You can bet that there are more files for the preceding years, files that can certain stack up to multiple stories high."

"Whatever." Gosnell huffed. "That's not why I'm here. I've got friends over at Gotham, and they got me news you certainly will be interested in."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Your son and his dog have been arrested for assisting a wanted fugitive on a stolen police van following a high speed chase." Gosnell said. "I thought you'd like to know."

"Oh, is that right?" Sam asked as he took off his reading glasses. "Who's the wanted fugitive?"

"They didn't tell, but think about it." Gosnell said as he folded his arms. "Your son and his dog are involved in something at Gotham, and you do realize what this means?"

Sam arched his eyebrows, and Gosnell leaned forward.

"That means having the son of a high-ranking police officer in Coolsville getting arrested by Gotham City police isn't gonna bode well with citizens here." He smirked. "The choice is yours. You can use your influence to have him released, thus earning you the scorn of the press that have helped you in the past, or you can sit by and do nothing while your son and his pooch rots away in a holding cell."

Gosnell then chuckled as he turned and walked away, leaving Sam to digest the news.

* * *

Meanwhile, that late evening with the sun pretty much set, a police van transporting Shaggy and Scooby were driving down the roadway as the police resumed their chase for the van.

Shaggy and Scooby were handcuffed and sat on the bench on the side wall, both with their heads down.

Both were still thinking about the relentless interrogation the officers subjected them to.

In spite of the relentless questioning and the threat of force, Shaggy and Scooby were both in one piece and managed to held up like a rock, and finally the lieutenant in charge of the chase had no other option but to have them transported back to the precinct for further questioning and the night.

Even though they managed to get out of the three-hour field interrogation in one piece, both Shaggy and Scooby wondered how long will they be able to withstand the police interrogations before breaking down and gave up what their friends are up to.

Of course, the police knew that the group was looking for District Attorney Van Dorn, but they subjected Shaggy and Scooby to the interrogation on the basis that Shaggy was the one that told Detective Donald Ford to go screw himself.

As Shaggy sighed and thought that he really ought to watch his mouth, both their stomachs started to growl.

It was a reminder that they haven't eaten one bit since breakfast that morning, and now both he and Scooby are starved.

As the police van stopped at a red light, not that it's in a rush to get back to the precinct, a giant bat-shaped shadow overcame the rear doors.

Shaggy and Scooby were about to think of something to say when they both heard the locks on the rear doors being picked.

Then, as the door opened, both of them gasped in shock of what was in front of them at the other side of the door.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed, his voice barely above a whisper as the rear doors opened.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	11. The encounter and enter the Bat

Chapter 11: The encounter and enter the Bat

Meanwhile, not long after losing Shaggy and Scooby, the van was able to make its getaway, as the pursuit was stopped only when the pursuing officers shifted their attentions to arresting and interrogate Shaggy and Scooby.

It didn't take long before the van exited the highway and found a place to stop. However, as the four worked to get the rear doors closed properly, Fred was clearly not in a good mood.

"We should've stopped Shaggy and Scooby from trying to fix the blown up rear doors when they made the suggestion in the first place." Fred sighed.

"Well, maybe if you've kept your eye on the rear-view mirror, Freddie, you would've noticed that Shag and Scooby have unbuckled their seatbelts." Daphne said.

"Maybe you should try driving a van while being chased by a whole regiment of heavily-armed, trigger-happy police officers, Daph." Fred retorted. "See if you can cope with the pressure and make split-decisions."

"You do realize that those opened rear doors would've slowed us down, did you, Fred?" Velma spoke.

"Yes, I am aware of that." Fred said. "I mean, when you're facing a whole regiment of SWAT officers, do you really think there was a way for me to think straight given the pressure we're under to avoid getting Ms. Harewood caught?"

"Well, I'm sure you didn't need to floor the gas pedal the way you did, Freddie." Daphne said. "Maybe you could've taken off slowly, giving Shag and Scooby enough time to reach for the rear doors and close them properly while maintaining their balance, and then speed up once the doors are fully closed."

"Easier said than done, considering the fact that-" Fred was about to continue when Ms. Harewood cut in.

"Alright, you kids." She finally snapped. "Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere! Your friends have already gotten captured by police, so there's nothing much we can do to help unless we get this show back on the road and get the evidence to District Attorney Van Dorn."

Fred and the girls stared at the whistleblower, then shared a look with each other before sighing and nodding.

"Good point, Ms. Harewood." Daphne said. "I guess only G** knows how Shag and Scooby are faring since their arrest."

"Better not think about that." Ms. Harewood said. "Because-"

Before she could continue, a shot suddenly rang out from nowhere and next thing you know, she was exclaiming in pain.

"Ms. Harewood!" Fred and the girls gasped as Ms. Harewood crouched down and held her left arm in pain.

A quick look at her right hand showed that blood was starting to seep out from the wound, and as Fred looked outside, he saw a fast-approaching police car coming their way.

"I...I think...I've got...one..." Ms. Harewood said with strain as Daphne and Velma took a look at her wound.

"Jeepers, we've gotta get out of here!" Daphne said in alarm.

"Right!" Fred gritted his teeth as he quickly shifted the van back into drive and slammed on the gas pedal.

As the van lurched forward, more shots rang out from the pursuing police car and the occupants can hear the gun shots hitting the body of the van.

A quick look-around by Velma soon led to a bullet hole on the nearby side window as Daphne uses a cloth to try to stop the bleeding from Ms. Harewood's arm.

With the high-speed chase resumed, the police car, soon joined by a trio of other police cars, pursued the van relentlessly with officers firing at the target.

The shots that rang out was accompanied by the glass windows shattering shortly after, most of which came from the rear doors.

Before anyone could comment on the state of the windows on the rear doors, another shot rang out and Ms. Harewood yelped in pain again.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed as Ms. Harewood placed her hand on her chest this time. "She's got another one, guys, and this one's bad!"

"You mean...?" Fred asked at the front.

"If we don't get her medical treatment right away, Ms. Harewood's gonna lost too much blood and..." Velma said before trailing off, not wanting to say what was to happen next, not that she needed to, as they all knew that the second gunshot that tagged Ms. Harewood is pretty bad.

"Well, I hope there's a hospital somewhere around here." Fred gritted his teeth. "Because-"

"No hospitals!" Ms. Harewood said. "The police has put me out as a wanted fugitive, and if you kids send me to one, we'll be sitting ducks!"

"What should we do then, Ms. Harewood?" Daphne countered. "If you don't get care, you'll-"

"I won't live to see my work complete, kids." Ms. Harewood cut in. "However, I do have one last request for you."

"What is it, Ms. Harewood?" Velma asked, although deep down, they all knew the answer.

Ms. Harewood turned to her and replied hoarsely. "That grand jury I mentioned earlier: It's about to convene and it concerns about police involvement in human trafficking ring, and I was supposed to testify in that when I got kidnapped by police."

"You did mention that." Fred pointed out. "And the police certainly won't do this to you unless the stakes are very high with your testimony."

"It is, and that's why I was kidnapped in the first place." Harewood said. "I need you kids to finish what I've started. Get my testimony ready for the grand jury and find District Attorney Van Dorn."

"But how do we find her in a city this size?" Daphne asked. "Not to mention that-"

"I'm sure you kids can figure it out. I know that you kids are smart" Ms. Harewood said. "But enough with the questions. First, get me to a safe hiding place."

"Like an underground parking garage?" Fred asked.

"That will be ideal, provided that there's a dark spot that you kids can hide the van at." Ms. Harewood nodded. "In addition to-"

"Just hang on, Ms. Harewood." Fred cut in. "We'll make it. I promise."

* * *

A short while later, in the meantime, the police van that was transporting Shaggy and Scooby had pulled into the parking lot of the 30th Precinct of the Gotham City Police Department.

"Okay, boys." The driver announced as he and his partner unbuckled their seatbelts. "We're here."

"So be prepared for what you're supposed to say for yourselves." His partner added as they both got off the cab and made their way to the rear.

"What do you boys say, huh?" The first officer asked as he knocked on the rear doors.

The knocking was met with silence from the cage, where Shaggy and Scooby were supposedly held following the arrest.

The two officers shared a look with each other when they received silence from the cage in response before the second officer turned and faced the rear doors again.

"Perhaps you boys need some more time to think, huh?" The second officer asked.

Again, there was silence from the cage, and the two officers shared another look with each other.

"Guess the questioning did their thing in silencing those two." The first officer remarked.

"Oh, well." The second officer shrugged as he pulled out the keys to the rear door locks. "You boys better be ready to talk, because the captain ain't in no mood to push you boys the easy way."

After unlocking the rear doors, the two officers opened them, only to be greeted by a shocking sight!

The cage was empty, and the two officers stepped in to look around.

Seeing no sign of damage in the cage, the first officer remarked, "What the h*ll?"

The second officer turned to him. "Is this some sort of a joke?"

"If it is, then why aren't we laughin'?" The first officer asked.

"Because this ain't funny." The second officer said. "Two prisoners managed to escape from our custody. This ain't gonna end well for us."

"Tell me about it." The first officer said as they rushed out of the cage and made their way into the station. "We gotta fetch the sarge and fast, unless we wanna end up meeting with Forbes."

* * *

Meanwhile, several miles down the road, Shaggy and Scooby were still speechless by their escape from the police van.

One minute, they were transported to the 30th Precinct, en route to spending the night in the holding cells, and then the next minute, they were riding the Batmobile with Shaggy seated on the front passenger seat while Scooby sat at the back.

And seated behind the wheel and driving the Batmobile was none other than the Dark Knight himself.

Shaggy and Scooby were both unnerved by the cape and the cowl worn by the Caped Crusader, who looked focused as he concentrated on the driving.

Even though they heard a lot of stories about the Dark Knight's exploits, particularly on how much the Caped Crusader looked like a demon waiting to prey on criminals and how much he looked like a giant bat, both Shaggy and Scooby were still a bit spooked as they find themselves on the Batmobile with the one and only Batman.

The duo shared a look with each other and swallowed. Finally, it was Shaggy who opened up.

"And to think that a lot of people believe that the Dark Knight was an urban legend." He remarked.

Batman grunted but didn't say a word.

Not hearing a response from the crime fighter, Shaggy then said to Scooby, "I suppose Batman's not as talkative as the Blue Falcon is."

"Rell me about rit, Raggy." Scooby nodded.

It was at that remark that Batman raised an eyebrow (Though not shown, as he was still wearing his cowl).

"I assume that you've been in the theater before, Mr. Rogers?" Batman finally spoke.

Both Shaggy and Scooby's eyes widened at the remark.

"Like, how did you...uh...know my name...uh...?" Shaggy asked.

"I have my ways." Batman replied simply. "And as for your dog, did you just throw your voice?"

"If I had, would my lips be moving, Batman?" Shaggy asked as he looked at the Caped Crusader in the eyes through the rear view mirror.

There was some silence after the last remark, and the Dark Knight finally said, "Point taken. In that case, how did he came to be able to possess the ability of speech?"

"It's a long story, actually." Shaggy chuckled. "Besides, I'm sure you can figure that out on your own, given that you're supposed to be the World's Greatest Detective, Batman."

There was another grunt from Batman, and Shaggy turned to face the side window.

Some silence went by before Batman finally asked, "So tell me, how is it that the son of a deputy police chief of Coolsville and his dog came to end up in the prisoner's cage of a Gotham City police van?"

"Oh, it's quite the story, actually, Batman." Shaggy said. "You won't believe how it all started."

Batman's expression remained neutral. "Try me."

Shaggy and Scooby shared a look with each other before shrugging and the former turned to face the crime fighter.

"So you see, Batman, it all started after the gang and I won tickets for a two-way trip to Gotham following a contest, and the trip coincides with our friend Daphne's father, Mr. George Blake, coming to Gotham for a business conference at Wayne Enterprises." Shaggy began. "So we flew all the way here from Coolsville for the week, during which the gang and us decided to tour the city around."

"In your mention of the gang, you're talking about your friends Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley and Daphne Blake, together with you and Scooby Doo, am I right?" Batman asked.

"Yes. How did you-" Shaggy was about to continue before he stopped himself and added, "Never mind. You're the go**amn Batman, after all."

"Anyways, then what?" Batman pressed.

The next few moments were spent as Shaggy and Scooby explained the mix-up at the car rentals at the airport, their receiving a van that turned out to be an undercover police van, a kidnapped Ms. Harewood, text messages and phone calls from Detective Ford, the bombshell revelations Ms. Harewood has provided and the subsequent police chase that led to their arrest by police.

"And that's how Scoob and I came to be in the prisoner's cage of a police van when you found us, Batman." Shaggy finished.

Batman narrowed his eyes and didn't say a word as he digested Shaggy and Scooby's stories.

Some moments of silence went by before he finally spoke, "I believe I know a thing about the human trafficking ring Meghan Harewood spoke of."

"You do?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby both raised an eyebrow. "If so, like, how come you never went public with the information or-"

"At a time when the police has been ordered to capture me, that's not going to work the way it needs to." Batman said. "Not to mention that Rupert Throne's men are very good in tying up loose ends in the underworld when Matches Malone began making inquiries on the ring."

"Rupert Rorne?" Scooby asked. "Ri thought Hamilton Rill ris re mayor, Ratman."

"Hill is Thorne's puppet." Batman said. "Being from out of town, you boys may not know this, but Rupert Thorne has emerged as the most powerful mob boss of Gotham City after a power vacuum in Gotham's underworld that broke out following the fall of the Falcone Crime Family and its rivals. And Throne was the one who manipulated last year's municipal election, enabling his puppet Hamilton Hill to be elected mayor of Gotham City."

"And following Hill's taking office, the police contact Pops spoke of got replaced by Pauling, eh?" Shaggy asked.

"Yes." Batman replied. "But anyways, like I said earlier, Throne's men are very good in tying up loose ends, and by the time I was able to get a hold on the information pertaining to this massive human trafficking ring, many of my sources have gone silent."

"But were you able to...?" Shaggy was about to ask when Batman, once again, cut him off.

"Yes. In spite of the silences, I was able to find a clue that led me to Harewood." Batman nodded. "In fact, she was the one who was to testify in a grand jury concerning police involvement in human trafficking. However, it turns out that she was long under the radar of Pauling, who got to her before she could make her testimony in the grand jury, which has since been postponed pending the search for her."

"And since Pauling was appointed by Hill, who was in turn supported by Throne, like, that leaves you in the out when it comes to police contacts." Shaggy said.

"Exactly." Batman replied. "Since James Gordon got replaced by Pauling, I have not been entirely successful in establishing a solid communication channel with someone within the police department, particularly with someone at Gotham Central."

"Which makes it difficult for you to get the information you needed to verify the evidence for your cases." Shaggy pointed out. "Though even then, I'm sure you've got this Bat Computer to discreetly hack into public records and computer networks and obtain the information you need the same way Dynomutt has his supercomputer mode for the Blue Falcon to do the work."

"Yes." Batman nodded. "Computer work only forms part of the investigation, however. If you want to get the whole picture of the case you're investigation, nothing can replace old-fashioned field work, where you can find the evidence you need to solve a case."

"Just like how the gang can't rely on Velma's computer skills to solve a mystery." Shaggy nodded. "We still need to get out on the field, split up and look for clues."

Just as Shaggy finished the remark, his and Scooby's stomachs growled loudly.

"I take it that you boys haven't had one bite all day." Batman said.

"Not since breakfast, and after all we've went through, Scoob and I could sure use a huge meal." Shaggy said as he rubbed his stomach.

"Reah." Scooby agreed. "Re huge real."

Batman grunted but didn't say another word, and Shaggy then asked, "Say, where are we heading anyway?"

"You boys will soon find out." Batman replied before adding, "Penny One: Activate 'Blind as a Bat' protocol."

"Blind as a Bat?" Shaggy turned to Scooby with his eyebrows arched.

"Protocol activated." A British-accented voice replied promptly, and before Shaggy and Scooby knew it, robotic arms suddenly emerged from the armrests of the seats and proceeded to blindfold them.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he widened his arms, not sure where to grab the robotic arms that are blindfolding him and Scooby. "What's the big idea?"

"Sorry, but our destination is located at a secret location where blindfolding you boys are done for your own good." Batman explained.

"L-like, what do you mean by..." Shaggy was about to continue when Batman cut in again.

"Trust me. Doing this is for your own good." Batman said sternly. "Last thing we need is a member of my rogues gallery putting you boys in harm's way because of your knowledge of directions to our destination."

Shaggy opened his mouth, about to say something, but he then changed his mind when he heard the grunt and stayed silent for the rest of the journey.

It was that moment that the Batmobile was driving towards the bottom of a cliff, and Batman narrowed his eyes as he stepped on it.

For Shaggy and Scooby, it was quite dark and silent, save for the sound of the engine of the Batmobile, and it was something they both find themselves unable to bear for long.

They were both about to ask when will they be allowed to take off their blinds when they heard the Batmobile slowing down rapidly.

Then, the familiar deep voice said, "Okay, we're there."

Shaggy and Scooby both took off their blindfolds, and their eyes both widened and their mouths opened in amazement at the sight in front of them.

"Like, Holy Dark Underground Secret Lair, Batman!" Shaggy exclaimed.

* * *

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	12. The recording and in the Batcave

**Author's Note: There has been a slight updates to the preceding chapters concerning about Meghan Harewood due to testify in a federal grand jury in Gotham.**

 **In addition, Gil Mason, who is by the way one of the _Batman: The Animated Series_ characters (From the two-part episode _Shadow of the Bat_ ) I've adapted and retconned for _Coolsville Central_ , has his previous assignment prior to becoming deputy commissioner of the GCPD changed from being the executive officer of the GCPD Detective Bureau to being the executive officer of the GCPD Organized Crime Control Bureau.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The recording and in the Batcave

Meanwhile, after an evening of being chased by police cars, the group managed to make their escape and end up driving into an underground parking garage and park the van at a dark, hidden spot.

With the van parked, Fred and the girls moved quick to attend to Ms. Harewood.

"Ms. Harewood, can you still manage it?" Fred asked urgently.

Before the whistleblower could reply, Velma and Daphne turned to him.

"She's lost a lot of blood, Freddie." Velma said. "Daphne and I tried to stop the bleeding, but the more we tried, the more her blood began flowing out."

"She's not gonna make it if we don't get her medical attention right away." Daphne added. "Which is a difficulty considering the situation we're in."

"So you're just gonna leave us like this while we have to do your work, Ms. Harewood?" Fred asked frustratingly as he turned to Ms. Harewood.

In spite of the pain and the loss of blood, Ms. Harewood said, "I'm afraid I've got no choice."

"You did have a choice." Fred fumed. "You could've decided that District Attorney Van Dorn must be at her home, considering the lateness of the day, and-"

"Easier said if you've ducked the incoming grenade that blew open the rear doors, Freddie." Daphne snapped.

"Which is easier for you to say when you're not the one behind the wheel and having to make the split decisions." Fred countered. "Besides-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ms. Harewood exclaimed, and the arguing duo shut their mouths. "You kids need to stop arguing and focus on the issue at hand, and arguing isn't going to get you anywhere!"

"But you mentioned that you need to get your testimony ready for District Attorney Van Dorn's court case, Ms. Harewood." Velma said. "How-"

"Get your cell phones out." Ms. Harewood said. "This is going to be my last will and testimony."

"But the testimony...wouldn't it be invalid if it wasn't done in person in front of the grand jury?" Fred asked as he pulled his phone out.

"Not if you have witnesses when you made the recording of the testimony that can validate it." Ms. Harewood replied. "For this case, you three are going to be my witnesses, and you three are going to make sure that it gets to the grand jury."

Fred and the girls shared a look with each other at the remark and they nodded.

"In this case, you ready?" Velma asked as she held her phone out with the recorder ready with Fred and Daphne following suit.

"As ready as I'd ever be." Ms. Harewood nodded weakly.

Soon, Ms. Harewood was summoning the strength as she made her last testimony.

"I am Meghan Harewood, and under the witnesses of Frederick Jones, Velma Dinkley and Daphne Blake, this is my last testimony in the case of _The United States v. The City of Gotham, New Jersey_ , made on August 3rd, 2011, at 22:10." Ms. Harewood began.

Over the next half hour, Ms. Harewood, continued to summon the strength to make her lengthy testimony, where she named the several officials involved in the human trafficking ring.

"The following individuals named in my testimony are involved in the trafficking ring, of which the evidence I've collected has been handed over to the Office of the District Attorney of Gotham City." She continued. "Gotham City Police Commissioner Peter Pauling, Coolsville Chief of Police and former Gotham City Deputy Police Commissioner for Legal Matters Gillian Mason, Gotham City Deputy Police Commissioner for Internal Affairs Jack Forbes..."

As Ms. Harewood continued, Fred and the girls' faces were set to stone as they faced the inevitable.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, Ms. Harewood finished her lengthy testimony and it was then that she closed her eyes for one last time, but not before making clear of her desire for Fred and the girls to get her testimony to the grand jury.

Fred and the girls nodded firmly as they reassured her that they will get her testimony to the grand jury.

What followed was the trio gently placing Ms. Harewood's body onto the ground and covered it with a tarp they were able to find nearby.

There was some silence from the trio as they looked at her body and contemplated the day's events.

Fred sighed as he wiped his forehead, feeling a loss of words at the moment.

It was supposed to be a trip for them to get together and travel out of town for a change, especially after dealing with a few mysteries during their sophomore school year in Coolsville.

Instead, they are all now on the run from the law and being placed out as wanted fugitives by police.

The trio returned to the van and sat in their seats, not sure what to do next.

Daphne sighed as she looked out the window, shaking her head as she wondered how Shaggy and Scooby are doing.

"I hope Shag and Scooby are doing okay." She sighed.

"If there's anyone who could survive the brutal treatment of Gotham City police and arrive at the station in one piece, it's gonna be Shag and Scooby." Velma said.

"Tell me about it." Daphne nodded.

"Anyways, what do you girls think we should do now?" Fred asked.

"What do you think, Freddie?" Velma asked as she and Daphne turned towards him. "We're going to find District Attorney Van Dorn, of course."

"At this time of the night?" Fred asked.

"It's late right now, and we've had a long day, so the answer is, of course not." Velma said. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do: Let's get the heck out of here and find a safe, far-away place to spend the night."

"At a time when police is still searching for us?" Daphne asked.

"You got a better idea, Daphne?" Velma turned to her. "Or would you rather spend a night here with a rotting corpse outside and pray that she doesn't turn into a zombie or worst, the cops manage to find us."

Daphne looked at her and Fred blankly, and then she sighed.

"Fine." She groaned. "I just hope you guys are right in the thought that we won't encounter any more surprises."

As they all buckle up and Fred started the engine and backed the van out of their hiding spot, Daphne reached into her purse for her cell phone and flipped it on.

Seeing the number of missed calls from her father, she sighed again as she began to debate in her mind on whether to call her father right now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby were seated at a table and eating their late dinner in silence, dinner that was the courtesy of one Alfred Pennyworth.

As the duo ate in silence, they took the time to take in their surroundings and what had just happened over the course of the day.

Fact: The van they've rented was an undercover police van.

Fact: The van was carrying a kidnapped whistleblower that was due to testify in a federal grand jury.

Fact: The whistleblower had information that implicates high-ranking police officers for involvement in a human trafficking ring.

Fact: The police found out their location and gave chase.

Fact: Shaggy and Scooby ended up flying out of their ride and got arrested by police.

Fact: The police subjected them to relentless interrogation before placing them into the cage of a police van.

Fact: The duo were rescued by none other than the Dark Knight of Gotham while en route to the 30th Precinct of the GCPD.

Fact: They were now in none other than the Batcave, which functions as Batman's base of operations.

The duo looked around in amazement and saw the giant Batcomputer, as well as the display of various memorabilia collected as trophies by the crime fighter over the course of his crime-fighting career.

The trophies that attracted the duo's attention included a giant penny, an oversized Joker playing card and, last but not least, the giant T-Rex.

As Shaggy and Scooby continued eating, Batman was hard at work at the Batcomputer.

After finishing the refreshments Alfred provided, Batman was typing away at the Batcomputer with a frown on his face.

He has been hard at work ever since the civil rights attorney Meghan Harewood went missing five days ago, and her disappearance came on the eve of her crucial testimony at a federal grand jury that was convened following reports of a massive trafficking ring reaching into the core of City Hall and Gotham Central.

In spite of his best efforts in tracking down his underworld informants and shaking them for information, his search for Meghan Harewood came up fruitless as the days dragged on.

What made matters more pressing was that all of this came down at a time when Bruce Wayne was supposed to attend a very important business conference in town, a conference also attended by George Blake of Blake Enterprises.

Even though he was used to tight schedules like this, the dilemma he faced for this case annoyed the stuffing out of Batman, who silently cursed himself for letting the important business conference distract his work in tracking down Meghan Harewood.

Of all the days for Lucius Fox to come down with the flu.

Not that Lucius meant for it to happen, especially since from time to time, Bruce Wayne needs to make his appearances at these important functions to show that Wayne Enterprises is running smoothly in spite of rumours of its owner frequently being out golfing and hooking up with girls as a society playboy.

And just as he was getting warm with regards to Meghan Harewood's present location, a group of meddling kids visiting from Coolsville just have to end up renting the wrong vehicle at the wrong time.

Then, when the police become wise to her movements and began their chase, two of those meddling kids just have to fly out of the van during the high speed chase and get themselves arrested.

Jason has offered to help cover for him while he takes part in the business conference, but Batman has rebuffed him in the times he has made the offer, making clear to his ward and partner that he needs to focus on his school studies if he wants to improve his grades, which has been a source of concern for him lately.

Batman gritted his teeth as he continued typing and then without turning his head, he said, "I did what I could when I saw the news on the police chase earlier this evening."

"You certainly should have asked me to come with you, Bruce." Robin walked over to him with a clear tone of disapproval in his voice. "I might've been able to swoop in and stopped those f**king officers from getting close to those two over there while you take care of the van."

"If you had decided to not leave your studies to the last minute on every night before your tests, I wouldn't need to worry about the possibility of you having to repeat your final year in high school." Batman countered. "I thought you would have improved your time management by now, but your tendency to leave everything to the last minute is still a concern, Jason."

"It's not that big of a f**king deal, Bruce." Robin raised his arms in frustration. "I can manage my own time, so there's no need for you to make it seem like all h*ll broke loose just because I-"

"On the contrary, there is." Batman cut in as he paused his typing. "If you really want to continue on with your Robin duties, then you need to demonstrate that you can get things done without wasting time. Just because you've signed onto this crusade doesn't mean you should let this fully replace your private life, and besides, I am really worried about your reckless approach to the mission. Being Robin isn't a game, Jason. If you carry on with your reckless approach to your Robin duties, I can guarantee that you'll get yourself killed one of these days."

"Whatever." Robin huffed. "Point is, if you had let me come with you, Bruce, I'm sure that we would've had Ms. Harewood safe in here by now."

"Maybe or maybe not." Batman replied dismissively. "Do you honestly think you could stand a chance against a team of heavily-armed police officers in the middle of a elevated highway?"

"If that was in a tunnel, then yeah, I could've dispatched those motherf**kers and rescue those two, and you could've rescued their friends and Ms. Harewood!" Robin said angrily. "But thanks to you being a royal pain in the a-"

"Like, you guys both do realize that there wasn't a tunnel nearby, eh?" A third voice joined in, and this time, Batman turned around as he and Robin turned to face the source of that voice.

Standing in front of them were Shaggy and Scooby, both of whom have concerned looks on their faces.

"Had you guys split up and tried to rescue us all at once after Scoob and I flew out of the van by accident, there's no way you would've been able to take down those trigger-happy police officers chasing us." Shaggy said.

Robin arched his eyebrows. "How did you-"

"Raggy rand Ri were both trained rin martial arts ry ris father." Scooby piped up.

As if knowing that Robin was shocked to see Scooby speak, Batman quickly said, "Don't ask."

Robin turned towards Batman for a second, then towards Shaggy and Scooby again.

"Your father?" He asked Shaggy.

"Deputy Chief Samuel Chastain Rogers had special forces training back in his days in the U.S. Marine Corps." Batman said. "Combine that with the tactical and martial arts training he received, he can certainly figure out at least a hundred ways to hurt a man."

"I guess it's safe to say you boys got that sort of training?" Robin asked Shaggy and Scooby.

"Only the basics." Shaggy said. "But we know enough to know that, like, there's no way in heaven's name you guys could've been a match to those trigger-happy police officers in an outdoor environment, and Batman did what he could."

Robin and Batman shared a look with each other, then the former asked, "How long have you guys finished eating?"

"Long enough to hear you guys arguing, and you should tell Penny One to get the kitchen stocked." Shaggy said as he gestured towards the table where he and Scooby just ate. "Scoob and I would like to have seconds if you don't mind."

"Long enough to hear us arguing?" Robin asked as he turned to Batman again. "You guys mean-"

"Yes, we heard." Shaggy cut in. "But don't worry, we know how to keep a secret. In fact, Pops and the others haven't realize that Scoob and I managed to deduce that the Blue Falcon and Radley Crown are one and the same, and besides, when we recognized Alfred from back when Mr. Wayne and him met with us at Wayne Enterprises this morning, we kinda already figured out that Mr. Wayne is behind the cape and cowl."

"Reah." Scooby nodded in agreement.

There was some silence from the Dynamic Duo as they digested Shaggy's latest remark.

"I...guess that means there's no longer a need to keep the masks on." Robin sighed as he moved to take off his mask, revealing the face of Jason Todd in its entirety.

Batman simply grunted and turned to resume his typing, his cowl still on.

Shaggy, Scooby and Jason shared a look with each other, and they shrugged.

"Somehow, I was expecting Mr. Wayne to do just that." Shaggy said as he gestured towards Batman.

"You can't blame him." Jason replied before motioning him and Scooby to follow him and continued, "Ever since he received my final report card for my Grade 11 school year from Archie Goodwin High this past June, he's been moody."

"I'm assuming you guys have been close?" Shaggy asked as Jason led them through the Batcave.

"Well, he's my guardian and has been taking good care of me." Jason scratched his head. "My ma f**king overdosed from the s**t she's been takin' when I was a young lad, and pa was some hired muscle for this d**hebag Two-Face before he disappeared. Funny you should mention how I met Bruce."

Shaggy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said. "Like, it must've been tough to deal with the loss of your parents at such a young age."

"It is." Jason nodded. "And Bruce is the closest I ever had for a father, though he never tells me good night before bedtime, nor does it feel like that anything I did is good enough for him."

Shaggy and Scooby remained silent as they nodded thoughtfully, and there was some awkward silence between the trio.

"Guys?" Jason finally asked.

"Oh, sorry." Shaggy quickly said. "I guess...Scoob and I don't know what to say about that."

"Don't be." Jason said. "If you guys end up getting adopted by Bruce, you'll understand."

The trio then chatted about a few other topics during the rest of the walk through the Batcave, as if they were old friends who haven't seen each other in decades.

It was then that Jason led them to one of the gyms in the dark corridors of the Batcave.

"What are we doing?" Shaggy asked as Jason nodded at them, motioning them to enter.

"Well, since Bruce is busy typing away at the Batcomputer, I figure that you guys may wanna do something to pass the time." Jason replied.

"I thought that we can grab some more stuff to eat in the kitchen." Shaggy said.

"You guys are technically our 'visitors', Shaggy." Jason said as he turned on the lights of the gym, revealing a lot of the workout equipment that typically fits in a gym, in addition to large spaces for martial arts practice. "And besides, since you told us that you and Scooby have some sort of martial arts training, I thought you might wanna do some practice on that and hit it out."

Shaggy and Scooby were at a loss of words for a moment as they walked further into the gym.

"Like, you mean..." Shaggy paused, in time for Jason to go into the change room and return with two white karate outfits and a couple of white towels.

Jason tossed one of the outfits and the towels to Shaggy and Scooby, and the duo managed to catch them.

"Knock yourselves out." He smirked. "Time to see if what you guys told us is true."

For a brief moment, Shaggy wasn't sure what Jason exactly meant in his last remark, then upon seeing the competitive look on his face, he nodded.

"Be prepared to get your socks knocked out, man." Shaggy smirked back. "What do you say, Scooby?"

"Scooby-Dooby-Doo!" Scooby barked as he did a karate pose, the towels dropping from his arm as he made the pose.

At the scene, both Shaggy and Jason had a nice chuckle.

* * *

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	13. The news conference

Chapter 13: The news conference

Scooby looked on silently as Shaggy and Jason fought it out, neither of them looking like they're interested in throwing in the towel.

Shaggy was able to effortlessly duck or block a number of punches and kicks Jason threw at him, and he was able to launch his own counterattacks, which Jason managed to also block.

"Huh. Not bad for someone who looks quite like the slacker who could use some exercise." Jason remarked as he threw a punch at Shaggy.

"Like, someone's the swingingest gymnast in high school, I see." Shaggy said as he blocked the punch and responded with a kick.

"As a result of me surviving on the f**king streets while my parents were busy." Jason replied as he ducked downward and attempted to knock Shaggy off his feet through a kick swing. "Survival skills that came in handy when I joined Batman's crusade."

"That, I noticed." Shaggy nodded as he jumped and blocked a punch Jason threw at him.

Scooby continued to watch them in awe, and it was clear that the fight between Shaggy and Jason was not going to end at anytime soon.

Meanwhile, over at the Batcomputer, Batman was continuing with the typing when Alfred approached him.

"Something bothering you, Master Bruce?" The butler asked in his British-accented voice.

"If you're asking about the Harewood case, Alfred, then yes." Batman grunted. "Meghan Harewood's work is essential for the victims I managed to rescue from the clutches of Hook Morgan and his ruthless gang of harbour pirates."

"Oh yes, I recalled your rescue of those poor souls who doesn't speak a word of English four weeks ago, Master Bruce." Alfred nodded. "Being lured on their fishing boats on the false promise of a better life in America."

"Indeed, Alfred." Batman nodded grimly. "It was that rescue that prompted me to get to the bottom of this ring, a ring that has ensnared many people of importance in Gotham."

"It was quite the scandal when it turned out that the businessman Jason Spencer Larson was a major financier in the human trafficking ring, Master Bruce." Alfred interjected.

 **(Note: Hook Morgan, the Robber Baron and J. Spencer Larson are all one-time minor Batman villains the Dark Knight had fought in the classic Batman comics from the early-1940s.**

 **Order of appearance of the said villains:**

 **1\. Hook Morgan: _Detective Comics_ Volume 1 _Issue 54_ , first published on Aug., 1941**

 **2\. J. Spencer Larson (Aka Larry the Judge): _Detective Comics_ Volume 1 _Issue 72_ , first published on Feb., 1943**

 **3\. The Robber Baron: _Detective Comics_ Volume 1 _Issue 75_ , first published on May, 1943)**

"Yes indeed, Alfred." Batman nodded again. "And the trail of all of this lead us to Rupert Thorne and his cronies at City Hall."

"Except that none of the people you captured were willing to testify against the crime boss." Alfred interjected as he poured a cup of tea. "All as the string of arrests led to the state of New Jersey to request the federal government to convene a grand jury and investigate this massive human trafficking ring and its ties to Gotham City officials."

"Exactly." Batman said as Alfred handed him the cup of tea. "Throne is very good in dispatching his men to tie up loose ends, and for a while, I had doubts on whether I was able to succeed in bringing down Throne and his gang."

"Until you found Meghan Harewood six days ago." Alfred said as Batman proceeded to drink the cup of tea.

"That's right." Batman nodded. "She was a social worker and civil rights attorney who worked tirelessly for the victims, and she was the one who managed to gather the evidence of police and City Hall's involvement in the human trafficking ring for District Attorney Van Dorn, who was appointed by the State's Attorney General to lead the prosecution in the grand jury."

"Though as things turned out, she was already under Commissioner Pauling's radar when you found her." Alfred interjected.

"Yes." Batman said. "Not long after I ask her to not hesitate to contact me, word got around that she never got home that night."

"Which was then followed by your relentless search for her." Alfred said.

"Exactly." Batman nodded. "Five days of dead ends until tonight when the break for the case came, only for a group of meddling kids visiting from Coolsville to rent the wrong vehicle at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And what prompted you to go rescue our two visitors here, Master Bruce?" Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"One of them is the son of Deputy Chief Sam Rogers of the Coolsville Police Department, and Radley had told me about how Rogers comforted him that fateful night when his parents were..." Batman replied as he finally turned to Alfred, taking off his cowl as he did so. "And seeing how much Rogers has been trying to fix things there the same way Jim has before getting ousted by Mayor Hill last year, I felt that I owe it to the deputy chief to make sure that his son and their dog doesn't end up in those inhumane jail cells of the 30th Precinct."

"I'm certain that it was a difficult decision for you to make, Master Bruce." Alfred nodded.

"Tell me about it." Bruce nodded.

There was some more silence between the two men after the conversation, and the Bruce sighed.

"You've got something else on your mind, Master Bruce." Alfred said.

"What made you say that, Alfred?" Bruce asked innocently.

"If I can't read your facial expressions, how is it that you came to become the World's Greatest Detective, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked.

Bruce paused for a brief moment before nodding. "Point taken."

"So what's in your mind at the moment, Master Bruce?" Alfred pressed gently.

Another pause went by before Bruce finally replied, "Jason."

"You were worrying about him this whole summer, is that it, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked. "Ever since you received his report card this past June."

"Yes." Bruce nodded. "Jason...I really think he has great potential. He can be a handful, but he really has great potential. It's his mindset that I'm worried about."

"He's no Master Richard, I take it." Alfred interjected.

"That's right." Bruce nodded again. "Jason keeps up his endurance through his rage, which has been a major factor in his productivity as Robin. I've always hoped that he will eventually learn to channel his rage, but four years in since we've taken him under our wing, while he has been showing improvement, I still see signs that there's more work to be done."

"I understand." Alfred nodded sympathetically. "And in a few weeks, Master Jason is to start his final year in high school. I sure can't believe how much time flies, just like the time we spent with Master Richard since his parents were killed in their ill-fated circus act 13 years ago."

"Tell me about it." Bruce agreed. "I still worry about how Dick is doing, long after he's moved out to attend Hudson College five years back, and his preference to spend more time with his operations in Blüdhaven reminds me that there are some things I'd wish I had done differently while bringing him up."

"Of course, sir." Alfred nodded again.

Before he could continue, a breaking news report popped up on the interface screen of the Batcomputer and WGOB news anchor Jack Ryder showed up on view.

Bruce's eyes narrowed when he read the text accompanying the breaking news report, and he immediately stood up after pausing the news feed.

* * *

Back in the gym, Jason and Shaggy were still busy hitting it out and are showing no signs of backing down or throwing in the towel.

"I guess I really underestimated you, Shaggy." Jason taunted. "I thought you and your dog don't exercise a lot, and to think you guys have such large appetites."

"Like, all the running around while being chased by a ghost or spook during a mystery will do the job in shredding all the excess weight." Shaggy smirked.

"So I've heard." Jason nodded.

The two boys were so absorbed in their match that they didn't notice Bruce arriving at the doorway.

Bruce didn't expect to see Shaggy and Jason taking part in a karate match of their own in the gym, especially given the fact that he was half-expecting their visitors to be raiding the Wayne Manor kitchen.

Instead, the sound of the grunting in the gym caught his attention and led him to Shaggy and Jason's little match.

Just as Jason was about to land a kick on Shaggy, Bruce cleared his throat.

Both boys stopped in their tracks before turning towards the doorway, but not before Jason got knocked off his feet by Shaggy.

"You need something, Mr. Wayne?" Shaggy asked as Jason got up and rubbed himself.

"There's something on the news I believe you boys are going to need to see right now." Bruce replied in his usual serious tone.

Shaggy, Scooby and Jason shared a look with each other before shrugging and they followed Bruce out of the gym and to the Batcomputer.

* * *

Back on the streets, Fred and the girls managed to find a good neighbourhood to spend the rest of the night.

The van was parked in a hidden dark area under a railway bridge in the neighbourhood, and the trio tried to spend the rest of the night getting the rest they need.

However, the memories from the day's events remained fresh in their minds, and no matter how much they all tossed and turned, they find themselves unable to sleep much even though they were completely worn out.

Daphne in particular has been worried during the whole night about her father George.

She has been trying to phone her father since she saw that she had missed several calls from him, but their location in the city made it difficult for her to receive a signal for her cell phone.

She sighed again as she looked towards the nighttime skyline of Gotham City.

* * *

In that same time, back at the 30th Precinct of the Gotham City Police Department, the fallout over the loss of Shaggy and Scooby quickly lead to the arresting officers determining that Batman may have played a role in aiding the prisoners' escape.

"That meddling Bat just has to butt in on our prisoner transport, eh?" The desk sergeant remarked after the two officers told him the story.

"Tell me about it." The first officer that was involved in the transport nodded. "Sometimes, I wonder why the h*ll does Gordon support a guy like him."

"Because he's Gordon." The second officer sneered. "Brought in from Chicago, he never played by the rules and only plays by his rules. Even staged that coup that ousted Loeb back in '98."

As the two officers continued with their discussion, two of the precinct's detectives, upon entering the station, shoved a suspect to the booking desk.

While the desk sergeant worked to have the suspect booked in one of the cells, the first detective said to the sergeant, "Make sure he wipes his a** and gets a new pair of pants when you have him locked up in the dunk tank, Doug."

"A new pair of pants?" The second officer asked as he turned to the two detectives.

"Oh, you guys should've seen this guy when we busted him on a deuce." The second detective said. "He clearly has been drinking more than he should have, and he was bustin' up the place when we arrived."

"Took us five minutes before we were able to get him onto the car, but when we did, he began to go crazy and next thing you know, he s**t himself." The first detective added.

"Did he?" The first officer asked.

"Yeah." The second detective nodded. "The whole car smelled like h*ll on the way back here."

"J**us." The second officer remarked. "Looks like you guys are gonna need someone to clean that s**t up."

Before the others could comment on the matter, one of the officers in the station rushed over to them.

"Sarge, Alec, Roy, you guys may wanna check this out." The officer said as he gestured towards the flat screen television in the squad room. "It's to do with that Harewood b**bo."

The trio at the front desk shared a look with each other as they arched their eyebrows, then they proceeded to follow the officer into the squad room.

* * *

Back in his hotel room, even though it was late at night, George couldn't sleep at all and was getting more anxious by the minute.

Upon figuring out that Daphne might be in trouble and the fact that he had forgotten to check in on her the whole day, George spent the next several hours frantically trying to call Daphne.

Unfortunately, he was not able to successfully call Daphne due to lack of signals for her phone, which meant his calls were not able to go through when he tried to call Daphne.

As George pondered on what to do next, his phone rang.

Noting that the caller is "Unknown", he sighed before answering it, hoping that it was Daphne calling him through a payphone.

"Hello?" George answered.

"George, it's me." A familiar voice replied on the other end.

"Bruce?" George asked. "What's up? Where are you?"

"At home." Bruce replied on the other end. "You better turn on the news right now."

"Why? Does it have anything to do with Daphne?" George asked.

"Just do it." Bruce said.

With a sigh, George paused his phone call as he reached over to turn on the television, which was already tuned to the WGOB news channel.

* * *

Back in Coolsville, Deputy Chief Sam Rogers was still at Coolsville Central processing the information Gosnell had given him earlier that evening.

Of course, he wasn't worried about Shaggy and Scooby running afoul of the law, namely assisting a wanted fugitive, as he knew they would never do such a thing, not to mention that he knew how corrupt the Gotham City police is.

What worried him is the inhumane cell conditions at Gotham City station houses, which Gosnell told him is where exactly Shaggy and Scooby are heading for hours ago.

He knew that even with everything he had taught Shaggy and Scooby, he is certain that they won't last very long in those inhumane prison conditions while in police custody.

As Sam sighed and drummed his fingers on his desk, a familiar voice distracted him from his thoughts.

"You're keeping late hours, Deputy Chief." The voice said, and Sam paused and swirled around, looking straight at the extra computer screen on his desk that is none other than Dynomutt, Dog Wonder, in disguise.

"You should talk, Dog Wonder." Sam said. "How's the Falcon doing?"

"Diving deep in assignment in the city's underworld, he's doing alright." Dynomutt replied. "However, there's some information he gathered that I believe you wanna get your hands onto."

"What kind of information?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

From the stand of which the "extra computer screen" was standing on, a stand that turned out to be Dynomutt's main body, the cyborg hound produced a thick file folder.

"Information straight from Gotham City that has implications reaching into City Hall and Coolsville Central, Deputy Chief." Dynomutt replied as Sam took the folder and opened it.

"Does it concern my son Norville?" Sam asked. "Does BF know if Norville's alright?"

"Not that I'm aware of, though there's breaking news out from Gotham City right this moment that I believe concerns his friends." Dynomutt replied.

"Breaking news?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"See for yourself." Dynomutt said as he shifted into the shape of a larger television screen, where he then tuned in to the WGOB news channel.

* * *

"Breaking news this hour." Jack Ryder announced. "Police Commissioner Peter Pauling is at the front of Gotham Central speaking to reporters on an update in the search for the notable civil rights attorney Meghan Harewood ever since she disappeared while on her way home six days ago."

The scene then cut to the press conference at Gotham Central, where reporters were gathered in front of the police commissioner.

Watching the news from his office, Sam narrowed his eyes as he recognized Pauling, GCPD's Chief of Department Jeffrey Kushner and Chief of Detectives, First Assistant Chief Paul Manning.

Sam never liked the three men that are on the news at this moment. His contact James Gordon never had anything positive to say for them, nor does Gordon's contact, and Sam himself had a history with the latter two men.

For Manning, Sam's history with him dates back to when they were both serving in Operation Desert Storm back in 1990, where Manning was a fellow Marine Corps captain attached to the I Marine Expenditure Force.

Sam never liked Manning and found him to be reckless.

As a matter a fact, he had long suspected that Manning was involved in an unsanctioned, ill-fated mission in Iraq during the war that resulted in the deaths of countless civilians caught in the crossfire.

However, there was little evidence to support his suspicions and he was later discharged from the Marines not long after returning home from the war.

As for Kushner, Sam knew the man back when they were both assigned to the 18th Precinct of the NYPD before Kushner got transferred to Gotham City in 1998 as a lieutenant.

One thing to note is that during their time together in New York, Sam never trusted Kushner in handling investigations and has long suspected the man to be dirty.

It took the unfortunate shooting death of an officer involved in a drug takedown undertaken by both Sam and Kushner during a case before Internal Affairs finally heeded Sam's complaints and opened an investigation in Kushner's conduct.

It was that Internal Affairs investigation that led to Kushner getting transferred to Gotham City in 1998, though it was a decision Sam harshly criticized.

Sam shook his head as he looked at the three men on the screen.

"It is unfortunate that I have to inform the citizens of Gotham City that Meghan Harewood has been killed shortly after officers responded to reports of her kidnappers transporting her to a safer hideout and attempted to take down the kidnappers in the process." Pauling announced. "However, her kidnappers were relentless in making sure that she doesn't see the light of the day and drove off, though police was able to capture two of the kidnappers involved."

The screen then showcased a couple of photos of Shaggy and Scooby being taken down by officers, causing Sam to stand up in disbelief.

Over at the Batcave, Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Shaggy and Scooby all watched the newscast with the latter three showing surprise on their faces.

"However, while en route to be taken into custody at the 30th Precinct, the two kidnappers, who we've learned to be a Norville Rogers and his dog Scooby Doo, disappeared from the prisoner transport." Pauling continued. "A disappearance which we attribute to Batman, who is an outlaw that needs to be captured and brought to justice as you all know."

Watching the newscast in his hotel room, George narrowed his eyes.

"In addition, the Major Crimes Unit has learned the names of the other three kidnappers involved in the murder." Pauling continued. "They're Frederick Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley, who, together with their partners in crime Norville Rogers and Scooby Doo, calls themselves Mystery Inc. and has been responsible for hampering police investigative efforts in their hometown of Coolsville."

"You've gotta be freakin' kidding me." Sam thought to himself as he resisted the urge to do a facepalm.

"He's can't be serious, can he?" Jason gestured to the screen as he turned to Bruce and Alfred in the Batcave.

"According to our sources and contacts from Coolsville, it is highly likely that following a mix-up at the car rentals at the Gotham City Airport yesterday, these meddling kids from Coolsville got a van that had Meghan Harewood tied up in the back and, upon learning of what she's doing, being the meddling kids they are, kidnapped her in order to prevent her from testifying in a federal grand jury that will certainly implicate names from Coolsville." Pauling continued.

At that remark, Sam then looked at the folder Dynomutt handed him earlier.

"And just this past hour, officers at the 93rd Precinct discovered Meghan Harewood's body dumped in an underground parking garage at Park Row while searching for the fugitives." Pauling added. "So right now, the department's doubling down on its efforts to capture those meddling kids, who will swiftly be facing justice once they're apprehended, as well as Batman, whose been obviously aiding those meddling kids in their scheme."

And then, as the reporters began throwing questions at the police commissioner, Pauling then concluded, "That is all."

As the police commissioner began taking questions, Sam, George and the Bat Family simultaneously muted the volume of the newscast, with the former two turning off the television in the same time.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	14. Another argument and in the manor

Chapter 14: Another argument and in the manor

No sooner did Bruce mute the newscasts did tempers begin to flare from, of all people, the normally chicken-hearted Shaggy and Scooby.

"Like, who the devil does that police commissioner think he's kidding?" Shaggy asked as he came close to slamming his fist down on the console of the Batcomputer. "Us kidnapping Miss Harewood and being responsible for her murder by those trigger-happy officers?"

"And stating that you and your friends kidnapped her to stop her from testifying at court in fear that her testimony will bring down officials at your hometown, that man certain knows how to spin things and tell a story." Bruce said as he stood up from the chair before turning to Shaggy and Scooby.

"Spin things a lot indeed." Jason agreed. "We need to do something, Bruce."

"Yes, something needs to be done." Bruce stood up as he put on the cowl. "But that something is not going to involve you going out with me, Jason. Your-"

"Now don't get me started on that 'watch my school grades' or 'proper time management' bulls**t, Bruce." Jason snapped. "I can take care of myself, and-"

"Don't give me attitude, Jason." Bruce said crossly as he turned to face Jason. "I can't bring myself to let you continue with your Robin duties while you haven't rein in your recklessness."

"Recklessness?" Jason sneered. "You can't force me to stop being Robin while the f**king police is chasing after a bunch of kids that didn't do anything wrong, Bruce."

"Oh boy." Shaggy and Scooby both rolled their eyes as Jason and Bruce began arguing with each other again.

With things heating up between Bruce and Jason, Shaggy and Scooby shared looks with each other before shrugging and decided to take a look around the cave.

Walking around the cave, the first thing the duo noticed is the giant T-Rex.

"Woah." Shaggy remarked as he and Scooby looked up at the dinosaur. "He sure looks fierce, Scoob."

"Reah." Scooby swallowed as the Tyrannosaurus looks down at them, with Shaggy swearing that the dinosaur was looking at them the same way it looks down at its next meal. "Rot ro mention menacing."

Shaggy shivered at the remark, but then he smiled as he added, "Well, I'm sure this one's a decommissioned robot, or otherwise, Batman would have to clean up after a T-Rex."

"Re Bat cleaning rafter re T-Rex." Scooby smiled and laughed. "Re-he-he-he-he-he-he!"

"And I thought Batman's the World's Greatest Detective." A British-accented voice suddenly remarked, causing the duo to jump and turn, finding themselves face to face with Alfred, who had walked into the cave carrying a plate of sandwiches.

Seeing the butler's sudden appearance from out of nowhere, Shaggy and Scooby shared looks with each other.

"Like, why am I not surprised by Mr...er..." Shaggy was about to continue as he gestured at Alfred, not knowing the butler's name.

"Pennyworth." Alfred introduced himself. "The name's Alfred Pennyworth, at your service."

"Rice meeting rou, Mr. Pennyworth." Scooby said as he offered his paw, much to the surprise of the butler.

Turning to Shaggy, Alfred said, "I take it that you've had some training in ventriloquism before, Mr. Rogers?"

"How did you-?" Shaggy arched his eyebrows before remembering something and then added, "Oh wait, considering your association with Batman, or better yet, I'm assuming you're...like, a father figure to Batman."

"Hardly." Alfred said. "I'm merely his loyal butler who's been at the service of the Wayne family since the young master was a lad."

"I take it that Mr. Wayne had some sort of childhood trauma that led to him becoming Batman, Mr. Pennyworth?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow.

"Considering the fact that Master Bruce indirectly knows about the achievements of a certain Deputy Chief Sam Rogers of the Coolsville Police Department, I have to say your father raised you well in spite of the circumstances." Alfred nodded.

"And by indirectly, I'm assuming you mean through the Blue Falcon?" Shaggy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Master Radley spoke highly of your father's hard work whenever he's here on visits." Alfred replied. "Just like former Police Commissioner Gordon."

"Right, then." Shaggy nodded. "And as for Scooby, like I told Batman earlier, Scooby can talk. Don't ask me how, it's a long story, but I'm sure Batman would figure things out, considering the fact that he's the World's Greatest Detective."

"Very well, then." Alfred nodded and smiled.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Coolsville, it didn't take long for Assistant Chief Harewood to receive the phone call from Sam and rush over to Coolsville Central.

When he arrived, Sam can see that his boss was trying to keep his emotions in check, considering the fact that his cousin in Gotham has been killed.

"Meghan sure is one stubborn piece of work." Harewood shook his head. "She always wanted to help people and is never fearful of taking unnecessary risks. Uncle Jake has always been concerned that she never plans ahead and takes proper precautions, which are needed in her line of work in a h*llhole like Gotham."

"I'm terribly sorry about your loss, Derek." Sam nodded solemnly. "And what do you make of the accusations leveled against Mystery Inc.?"

"Preposterous!" Harewood almost slammed his hand onto Sam's desk. "Knowing that bastard Pauling, he sure knows how to spin a story and tell lies."

"Just like a politician." Sam nodded in agreement. "Which would explain why Gotham City Mayor Hamilton Hill replaced Jim with that stooge."

"And now your son and his friends are in big trouble." Harewood added. "Didn't you warn them to stay away from Gotham City police, Sam?"

"I did." Sam replied. "Now, I don't know what the h*ll happened while they were away in Gotham, but I won't be surprised if they ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What do you mean by that, Sam?" Harewood arched his eyebrows.

"Check this out." Sam said as he held out the files Dog Wonder had just given him. "If all of this comes to light, then we're in for a massive windstorm, not just here in Central, but also over at City Hall."

Harewood nodded as he took the files, put on his reading glasses and proceeded to flip the folder open.

Reading the contents in the folder, his eyes narrowed before he looked up at Sam.

"That's some serious accusations against Mason if you ask me, Sam." Harewood said as he took off his reading glasses.

"Yes it is." Sam nodded. "All of which dates back to when Mason was the Deputy Police Commissioner for Legal Matters at Gotham City."

"Though I should ask what does all of this have to do with the Carter beating, Sam?" Harewood arched his eyebrows.

"As far as I know through what the Falcon has gathered, nothing." Sam said before adding, "Yet."

"Well, considering the way Mason called you someone as the type who hurts the work dynamic here in Coolsville, Sam, I won't be surprised if the Carter mess somehow has links to this trafficking ring that Meghan tried to uncover." Harewood said.

"I'm inclined to believe, Derek." Sam agreed. "That being said, let's hold off on this end until we get a better lay of the land. Last thing we need is to complicate matters."

"Of course." Harewood nodded in agreement. "And none of this leaves the two of us. Especially given that the accusations in the files concerns Mason."

"Do you suppose we should inform Councilman Chiles and Mayor Gaunt about all of this?" Sam asked.

"Until we get a full picture as to what exactly is going on, the answer is no, Sam." Harewood shook his head. "Because those files did mention City Hall as being connected to human trafficking ring centred at Gotham, and if Mason finds out on the digging we've sanctioned the Falcon in conducting, then this could certainly spell trouble."

"Right, then." Sam nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

Back at the Batcave, as Bruce and Jason's tempers continued to flare, particularly as the former made his way to the Batmobile with the cowl on, Shaggy and Scooby turned to Alfred.

"Are those two always like that?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards Batman and Jason.

"On a good day, yes." Alfred replied nonchalantly.

"From what Jason told us, he feels that Bruce will never be satisfied by any of the work done." Shaggy remarked. "As in Bruce has trouble trusting him in going out onto the streets."

"Well, Master Bruce has always had difficulties expressing himself in the most polite fashion and can be very hard on himself and the younger masters." Alfred interjected. "I don't suppose the two of you realize that Master Jason isn't the first person who Master Bruce has taken under his wing."

"Like, there was a Robin before Jason?" Shaggy enquired.

"Exactly." Alfred nodded. "Master Richard Grayson was the first to train under Master Bruce's wing and partnered with him as Robin, and like Master Bruce, Master Richard was himself the unfortunate victim of a crime that claimed the lives of his parents."

"What happened?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby arched their eyebrows.

"Perhaps you boys ever heard of the Flying Graysons?" Alfred asked. "Or maybe Haly's Circus?"

"Rever read rof re Flying Graysons." Scooby said.

"Though Haly's Circus did travel into Coolsville couple years ago." Shaggy added.

"Alright." Alfred nodded. "Anyways, long story short, the Flying Graysons were the main star of Haly's Circus, specializing in acrobatics. However, as you know, being the city Gotham is, crime always finds a way into getting into the livelihoods of businesses here."

"Like a protection racket?" Shaggy enquired.

"Exactly." Alfred replied. "Anyways, the Zuccos, at its prime, was a major player in the Gotham City underworld and rivaling that of the Falcones and has its run in extortion and protection rackets, typical of the ones that infested Gotham City businesses, and Haly's Circus was no exception."

"The owner was extorted by the Zuccos?" Shaggy asked.

"Yes, when the Zuccos demanded that Haly's Circus pays them tribute for 'protection' against sabotage." Alfred nodded. "However, Mr. Edward Haly, the owner of the circus, wanted nothing to do with the mob and outright refused to pay Tony Zucco tribute."

"And in retaliation for the refusal, the Zuccos sabotaged the act of the Flying Graysons by staging an 'accident', which resulted in the deaths of the two main stars?" Shaggy connected the dots.

"That's right." Alfred nodded again. "John and Mary Grayson were robbed of their lives at rather young ages, at a time when their son Richard was growing up and needed the love and care of his parents."

"And then Mr. Wayne takes him in as a ward and then starts training him for his crusade." Shaggy pointed out.

"Yes." Alfred replied.

It was then that the trio turned and saw Jason walking towards them, fuming, as the Batmobile took off.

"I take it that Master Bruce wasn't swayed in your desire to go out with him, Master Jason." Alfred said as they turned to the second Robin.

"Of course he wouldn't be swayed." Jason said crossly. "He's such a royal pain in the a** who thinks my 'recklessness' is a huge concern for me going out as Robin."

"Like, I suppose Bruce's quite the stubborn guy, eh?" Shaggy interjected.

"That's a massive understatement if you ask me." Jason retorted.

"Well, either way, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Shaggy asked.

"With what you boys had gone through during the day, I highly recommend that you boys get some rest." Alfred said as he looked at Shaggy and Scooby.

"But Scoob and I can't sleep well as long as Fred and the girls are still out there in great danger." Shaggy protested.

"There's a reason why Bruce brought you guys here." Jason said as he folded his arms. "He can't let you guys rot in those inhumane jail cells at the 30th Precinct, and besides, as Alfred just said, you guys been through a lot the whole f**king day."

"True, but even when Scoob and I are tired and sleepy, we can't sleep well whenever our friends are out there in great danger." Shaggy retorted.

"I'm sorry, boys." Alfred said. "But its for your own good. You boys are growing, and if you don't get enough sleep, well, there's no need for simulations to tell us the long term effects of sleep deprivation."

Shaggy and Scooby turned to Jason.

"I thought you don't like being told on what to do, Jason." Shaggy said. "Isn't there something we can do?"

"Sorry, guys." Jason shrugged. "I might've had my fair share of fights with Bruce, but Alfred always figures out a way to get things his way whenever I have a fit."

"Yes, and I strongly suggest you boys get some sleep before I think of locking up access to the Batcave." Alfred deadpanned.

"You can really do that, Mr. Pennyworth?" Shaggy turned to him.

"Are you boys willing to find out?" Alfred raised an eyebrow.

Seeing the stern look on the British butler's face, Shaggy and Scooby shared looks with each other, then with Jason, then they nodded reluctantly.

"Rokay." Scooby nodded.

"Very well." Alfred nodded back before gesturing towards the nearby stairs and added, "I'll show you boys the way to the guest bedrooms."

* * *

A short while later, Shaggy was laying flat on his bed in one of the guest bedrooms of Wayne Manor with Scooby curled up near him.

Even though both him and Scooby were completely worn out by the days events, the duo had difficulty falling asleep.

Shaggy tossed and turned for a few minutes before he opened his eyes and turned to Scooby.

"Like, I can't sleep at all, Scoob." He said.

"Re neither, Raggy." Scooby agreed. "Ri can't sleep rhile Red rand re girls are still out rere rin danger."

"There's got to be something we can do." Shaggy nodded as he sat on his bed.

"Perhaps I can be of help." A voice suddenly said, and the duo jumped before turning towards the door.

"Ruh?" Scooby exclaimed as the door opened, revealing Jason on the other side.

"Relax, guys." Jason said. "Who do you think I was?"

"Like, Mr. Hyde, perhaps?" Shaggy asked.

"Ha ha, very funny." Jason rolled his eyes.

"But anyways, what are you doing here, Jason?" Shaggy asked. "Didn't Alfred tell you to hit the sack?"

"He did, but here I am." Jason shrugged. "We can't just lay here in the manor and do nothing while your friends are in danger, Shaggy, so we're going to head out and rescue them."

"Like, didn't you just said that Alfred always has a way to get things done his way?" Shaggy asked.

"That was only a way for us to rid ourselves of the old goat." Jason said. "Once you guys are tucked up here and I'm in my room, Agent A goes off to the other parts of the manor to turn in for the night, and then we can head out."

"Right, then." Shaggy said. "What are waiting for?"

He and Scooby then rushed over to the door, only for Jason to pull them back.

"Wait!" He stopped them and placed a finger by his mouth, lowered his voice, and then added, "Be very, very quiet, guys."

"Why?" Shaggy asked.

"Rare re hunting rabbits?" Scooby added.

"Nice one." Jason chuckled. "But anyways, Alfred may be the family butler, but he's no ordinary one."

"What do you mean?" Shaggy asked.

"You're talking about a former Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant who also served as an intelligence officer with MI6 before he crossed the Atlantic to serve the Waynes." Jason explained. "It might be years since he was discharged, but that doesn't mean his old training has worn off completely."

Shaggy and Scooby shared looks with each other, then they nodded thoughtfully.

"Follow me." Jason whispered as he waved them over. "But be very quiet and sneaky."

"Should be easy." Shaggy nodded.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	15. Night time activities

Chapter 15: Night time activities

Batman gripped the steering wheel of the Batmobile as he sped down the streets of downtown Gotham City, and the glare on his face sure is capable of cutting through the windshield like diamonds.

He gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his recent argument with Jason aside and focus on the task at hand.

Earlier, he received an alert that the villain Deadshot has escaped from Arkham Asylum yet again, and he can only growl at the the fact that security at the asylum is seriously lacking, especially since the asylum is where the most dangerous and mentally-unstable criminals are sent for treatment.

First opened in 1918, the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane is a major psychiatric hospital in Gotham City that had a dark, checkered history.

The architect designing the asylum, who recently returned home from the Great War, which was ongoing during construction, suffered a mental breakdown and hacked his workers to death with an axe, and that architect ended up spending the rest of his days in Arkham after it opened.

The asylum's founder, Amadeus Arkham himself, was also mentally unwell as a result of several tragedies in his life, and like the architect that designed his asylum, Amadeus ended up spending the rest of his days in Arkham following the electrocution of a patient that was treated personally by him.

Rumour had it that while the patient in question treated by Amadeus Arkham was killed due to equipment malfunction, Amadeus actually deliberately messed with the equipment to electrocute the patient in revenge of the patient murdering his wife and daughter.

Anyways, as things turned out, Deadshot actually broke out of Arkham three days ago, and the reason why Batman learned of the news just now was due to the fact that a breakdown in communication protocols resulted in no one in the police department or the correctional services department figuring out that Deadshot was missing from Arkham until just now, not to mention that the Caped Crusader was preoccupied by the Harewood case in the past while.

However, the breakout wasn't exactly the reason why he's speeding down the streets of downtown Gotham at this very moment.

Instead, he received an urgent call from a police contact from the city's North End through a pager (His allies and him have to resort to using pagers, as the use of the Bat-Signal was barred after Mayor Hamilton Hill and Police Commissioner Peter Pauling took office).

The call came from Sergeant Brian Douglas from the 19th Precinct, who's assigned to the narcotics squad of the precinct and specializes in undercover assignments, in particular, infiltrating drug gangs.

It didn't take long before the Batmobile pulled up on Matt Crowley Road in the city's North End, and a short while later, the Caped Crusader leaped off the Batmobile, looked around and made his way down the street, pressing a button on the buckle of his utility belt to activate the camouflage as he went.

Swinging through the rooftops of the building and taking advantage of the shadows, Batman kept a sharp eye on the surrounding area.

He stopped in his tracks when he heard glass breaking in the distance, and whipping around and armed with his binoculars, the Dark Knight saw a couple of burglars breaking into a low-rise apartment a couple blocks away.

Seeing the burglars, the Dark Knight narrowed his eyes.

* * *

The two burglars were hard at work ransacking through the small apartment, grabbing what valuables they find.

"Just what we needed, Harry." One of the burglars remarked as he placed the television into the sack. "The owners of the place being away for the cottage and giving you the information we needed for the job."

"Just don't waste time leaving behind our 'trademark', Marv." The second burglar said. "We were lucky that we didn't get caught the last time when it turned out that the family was wise enough to shut off the water supply to their kitchen sink."

"Then why is it that we're drivin' around town in a plumbing van, Harry?" Marv asked. "We pose as plumbers in order to get close to our targets, don't we?"

"Yeah, yeah." Harry deadpanned. "That doesn't mean we actually needed to fix the plumbing while on the job, okay? Last thing we need is to end up gettin' our a**es hauled back to Blackgate."

"Don't worry, Harry." Marv replied. "There's no one around who's gonna call the cops on us, and by the time they respond to the call, we're miles away!"

By this point, the two burglars have finished with their looting and Harry, who's the shorter but stronger of the duo, was carrying the sack filled with their loot.

"Anyways, Marv, go check and see if the coast is clear." Harry said as he pointed his thumb towards the door leading to the balcony.

"Sure, sure, Harry." Marv nodded as he made his way to the door.

The street outside the apartment was dark and silent when Marv stood on the balcony and looked around, completely unaware that at this very moment, a tall bat-like figure was watching him like a hawk above him on the edge of the apartment's rooftop.

By that point, Harry was doing a last minute look-through as he called out, "Anything outside, Marv?"

Just then, he heard what sounded like a thud from the apartment's balcony.

"Marvin?" He called out again.

There was no response from his partner, and Harry was starting to feel a little uneasy, though he brushed that feeling aside.

"Marvin?" Harry repeated his partner's name again.

When he received yet no response, Harry started to feel worried, and he dropped what he was doing and rushed over to the balcony.

"Marvin?" Harry said as he stepped out onto the balcony and looked around, only to find that Marv was nowhere to be seen. "Where are you?"

As Harry looked around, he didn't realize that at that very moment, Marv was hauled onto the rooftop, completely tied up and gagged.

"If you think this is something of a joke, Marv, it's not funny!" Harry called out.

Before he knew it, something, or rather, someone jumped right onto the short burglar.

* * *

Batman wasted no time tying up the two burglars and left them near the streetlamp to be picked up by police before continuing on with his journey.

He leaped down onto street level at an alleyway behind a bar, where the nearby streetlight awaits replacement of its light bulb.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up." A voice greeted him the minute he landed on the street.

Batman grunted as the source of the voice turned around, revealing himself to be Sergeant Brian Douglas, who was dressed in street clothes and was lighting a cigarette.

"I had some business to take care of on my way here, Sergeant Douglas." He said. "But I digress, what's the word on the street around here that required my presence?"

"Word has it that Throne's gang has lost a shipment of cocaine worth in the hundreds of millions while it was in the process of being shipped." Douglas replied. "According to my sources, the cargo ship carrying the cocaine was jumped by pirates working on behalf of the Reynosa Cartel while it was still docked at Gotham Harbor this past couple of hours."

"Any word on what triggered the raid by the pirates, Sergeant?" Batman narrowed his eyes.

"My sources told me that the cartel was hunting down one of their own after their money manager defected to Throne's gang here in Gotham." Douglas continued. "And you know how much the cartel has grown through its management of various portfolios in both sides of the US-Mexican border, so it's a foregone conclusion that the defect will have serious consequences on the cartel's finances."

"However, there's more to the theft than meets the eye, Sergeant." Batman interjected.

"That's right." Douglas nodded. "As you may be aware, word is spreading around that the cartel has been planning the theft for quite some time, owing to the fact that a business deal between the Reynosas and Throne's gang went south last month after you've shut down the arms sales to the cartel."

"Of course." Batman said. "The cartel paid for merchandise that never arrived, and they wanted payback."

"You know how Throne operates, Batman." Douglas said. "He's never the type who refunds his customers for poor service or merchandise, and the cartel has been planning retribution as a result, retribution that becomes more urgent after one of their triggermen was killed in a gang shooting in the East End couple weeks ago."

"A gang shooting involving one of Throne's best guardsmen." Batman nodded. "Things were never quiet in the East End."

"Indeed, Batman." Douglas agreed. "There's no doubt that Boss Throne ain't gonna be happy by the latest news, and all of this is going to lead to one thing that will be trouble on the streets spelled in capital letters."

Batman grunted as he looked out towards the street, taking note of the night life of the North End.

"I suppose you ought to get going, Batman." Douglas continued as he joined the Caped Crusader in watching the street. "Especially with the Harewood grand trial and those three kids on the run, you're definitely gonna have your hands full."

"Not that I can't handle." Batman said. "Do make sure that you and your men are prepared for the storm in the making, Douglas."

"Of course, Batman." Douglas nodded as he turned around, "And as usual, my team and I can't officially ask for your help, with the mayor and the commish pushing to have you captured-"

The sergeant stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that he was once again speaking to himself as the Dark Knight was nowhere to be seen.

"Right." Douglas thought to himself before taking out another cigarette and lighted it with his lighter, drew in and huffed out some smoke.

* * *

Back at Wayne Manor, Shaggy, Scooby and Jason wasted no time sneaking their way back into the Batcave.

"So what's the plan, Jason?" Shaggy asked before adding, "And are you really sure that the hog tie is gonna keep Agent A occupied for long?"

"It's definitely gonna be trying to find your friends and clear your names, one thing for sure." Jason replied. "And don't worry, that old goat may have a few tricks up his sleeve, but the hog tie's still gonna slow him down."

"Well, hogtied or not, the sooner we come up with a plan to rescue Fred and the girls and clear our names, the better." Shaggy urged. "Like, Scoob and I can't sleep while our friends are out there in great danger."

"Don't worry." Jason placed a hand onto Shaggy's shoulder. "I know just the thing we should do."

* * *

A short while later, the trio were speeding down the city with Jason driving one of the undercover vehicles with the occupants all wearing street clothes and disguises.

"Like, are you sure this is gonna work, Jason?" Shaggy asked nervously as he fumbled with his beard. "What if the cops see through our disguises?"

"Reah." Scooby agreed as he scratches himself, having had his fur dyed into a deeper shade of brown and is wearing a replacement dog collar.

"Don't worry." Jason said. "Just stay calm, remember what I told you guys back at the cave and we should be fine."

"Uh, can you repeat what you told us back in the cave?" Shaggy asked.

Jason resisted the urge to facepalm. "Just stay calm and don't worry. For now, you're a second-generation Lebanese immigrant named Carl Kasem who's hanging out with friends late at night for some drinking."

"Okay." Shaggy nodded, though he was still not reassured by Jason's words. "But anywho, where are we heading?"

"Right now, we are heading onto the Don Cameron." Jason replied. "That's where you and Scooby flew out of the van you guys rented, right?"

"Right." Shaggy said. "Let's do hope we don't encounter that check point, though."

"When we tune into the police radio transmissions, we would be able to know for sure where most of the force is deployed." Jason said as he reached over to tune the car radio to the police radio.

* * *

 _August 5, 2011_

It was already half an hour past one in the early morning when Sam finally returned home from work.

The deputy chief was clearly exhausted as he dragged himself through the door, where his wife Wendy was waiting.

"You look like you could use a good night's rest, dear." Wendy said.

"After what we've been through this past day, I can sure use one." Sam nodded as he hugged his wife. "Police brutality and our son and Scooby and their friends are in trouble in Gotham."

"Yes, I saw that on the news." Wendy said worriedly. "You don't honestly believe the charges faced by Norville and his friends, do you?"

"Of course I don't." Sam replied as they made their way up the stairs. "I know first hand how much Gotham's Chief of Department Kushner is full of s**t, and there's no way I trust a single word that comes out of Manning and Pauling's mouths."

"Wait, Kushner?" Wendy paused. "The same Lieutenant Jeffrey Kushner who you were briefly partnered with back when you with the 18th Precinct?"

"The one and only." Sam nodded and frowned. "That dirtbag did himself a favour by playing Internal Affairs and the FBI, arranging himself a transfer to Gotham City in the aftermath in our last case together in '98."

"If I remember, it was a joint investigation with the FBI, wasn't it?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"That's right." Sam replied. "It was a drug-related murder case which the FBI is involved in due to the murder victim being a federal employee working at the NSA. I was partnered with Kushner and an FBI guy named Fornell during the investigation, where we then uncovered evidence of several of our own involved in a money-laundering and drug smuggling ring."

With a scoff, Sam then added, "I've always suspected that Kushner may be involved, but neither Fornell nor I were able to find evidence that support our suspicions, though that dirtbag got himself into trouble when he approved a raid that resulted in a guy in narcotics getting killed, a raid that was approved over my objections."

"And he was transferred to Gotham following the IA investigation." Wendy nodded. "I can't say I'm surprised he made it to Chief of Department under Pauling's leadership."

"Tell me about it." Sam agreed. "But anyways, is Margaret asleep?"

"Yes, she is." Wendy nodded before noticing the files Sam was holding. "What are those, dear?"

"Files containing evidence that could spell trouble in City Hall and Central in capital letters." Sam replied. "A falcon gave it to me."

"Well, I'm sure you've got plenty of time to go through the files tomorrow morning." Wendy said as she tugged her husband's arm. "Right now, you need to get some sleep, and I'm not taking any chances of seeing you pass out at work as a result of lack of sleep tomorrow."

"Sure, sure." Sam nodded reluctantly. "Thing is, I don't know if I can sleep much when Norville and his friends are in trouble in Gotham."

"Rule 6: Never lose sleep over things you can't control, dear." Wendy reminded him.

Sam nodded, though he didn't say another word as he and Wendy made their way to their bedroom.

* * *

Back in Gotham City, it didn't take long for the trio to drive by where Shaggy and Scooby were arrested on the Don Cameron.

"So this is where you guys got caught by the cops." Jason said.

"Pretty much, yeah." Shaggy nodded.

"Alright, so do you guys have an idea on where your friends might be?" Jason asked.

"I could try to phone Daph." Shaggy said as he pulled out his cell phone. "However, my phone plan racks up extra charges whenever I'm making a phone call outside of Coolsville, and besides, there's a good chance the police may have some radio device that can monitor calls coming to and from Daphne's cell, or even Velma and Fred's for the matter."

"We shouldn't take any chances on that end, that's for sure." Jason nodded. "Now, if it were you guys who are driving that van, where will you go when the police is out there waiting to pounce on you?"

Shaggy and Scooby both frowned as they shared looks with each other.

"Normally, for that situation, I'll try to find a hidden place close to food and clothes, food because we need that to survive and clothes for disguise." Shaggy replied. "So maybe a parking garage close to a shopping mall, for instance."

"Good first choice, though you definitely would wanna take into account of any surveillance cameras in the area that could capture the plate number of the van." Jason said.

"Good point." Shaggy nodded. "Like, in that case, maybe try to find some residential area that doesn't have any cameras but nonetheless has a good hiding spot under a bridge where police will have a hard time locating."

"That, too." Jason nodded. "Then we should try to find some area that can offer a good hiding spot under a bridge, though I'll be looking at a place that is miles away, since much of the city centre is filled with cameras that can capture the plate number."

"Oh boy." Shaggy sighed. "I take that we're gonna be in for a long night searching for a good hiding spot under a bridge, eh?"

"Yes, especially such black spots cannot be the type that can be easily seen by satellite." Jason gritted his teeth.

"Ri really don't rike ris." Scooby remarked.

"Neither do I, Scoob." Shaggy said. "But we gotta find Fred and the girls and figure out a way to clear our names."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of Gotham City, it didn't take long for the Dark Knight to track down the latest whereabouts of Floyd Lawton, a disgraced former Army Ranger who's now a mercenary and contract killer-for-hire and goes by the alias Deadshot.

Right now, the Caped Crusader is engaged in another round of fighting against Deadshot, doing his part in dodging the shots fired by the former Ranger as they fought out in the abandoned warehouse the sniper called home for the meantime.

"Give it up, Batman!" Deadshot boasted as he fired several rounds of shots at the Dark Knight, who is currently hiding behind a support column. "You and I both know that at some point, only one of us is going to make it out of this warehouse alive!"

"I beg to differ." Batman grunted as he swung around.

Firing off his grappling hook, Batman tries to make his way upward towards the support beam above.

However, as he almost made it to the beam, Deadshot managed to fire a shot at the grappling hook cable, causing it to snap and leading the crime fighter to plunge towards the floor below.

Hitting the floor hard, Batman grunted and turned around, only to find himself staring right at the barrel end of a shotgun held by Deadshot, who was now standing over him with what appears to be a smirk on his face.

"Bang." Deadshot sneered. "You're _dead_."

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	16. An urgent phone call

Chapter 16: Phone call

In spite of the rifle being aimed squarely at his forehead, the Dark Knight maintained his poker face as he looked squarely into Deadshot's eyes.

"What do you to say for this, Batman?" Deadshot taunted. "You do realize that after all this time in our fights, I've gotten a pretty good picture in how you roll. After all, I've kept an eye on your movements."

"Perhaps the thing you should've kept an eye on were my hands." Batman suddenly smirked. "Particularly when I was swinging for the support beam above."

"Huh?" Deadshot turned to look up towards the support beam, in time to hear the timed explosives beeping loudly.

Before the marksman had a chance to respond, Batman suddenly rolled away and a mild explosion can be heard from above and an unused lighting fixture started falling down towards the ground.

The marksman managed to duck out of the way, though the sudden flash of light coming from the explosion that followed blinded him temporarily.

What followed was a handful of punches from the Caped Crusader, though Deadshot sure put up quite the fight as he always did.

* * *

By the time the Gotham City police arrived at the abandoned warehouse and secured the scene, the only thing greeting them was a hogtied-Deadshot.

As the heavily-armed QRT officers moved in to secure Deadshot and take him into the paddy wagon, the sergeant leading the arrest team noted the Bat-shield on a note page attached to the rope used to hogtie Deadshot.

Narrowing his eyes, the sergeant turned towards the arresting team and said, "Looks like we've missed the Bat again, boys."

"You're telling me, sarge." One of the officers responded. "The PC's gonna be in for another disappointing day when he learns about this."

"Tell me about it." The sergeant nodded. "Now go secure the perimeter, in case he's still lurking around and watching us."

"You got it, sarge." The officer nodded before he went to join the others in their task.

Once the sergeant was alone, he frowned before he unfolded the note page and did a quick read of the message inside.

With a firm nod, he discreetly folded the note page and tucked it into his breast pocket before joining his men as they secured the parametre.

* * *

The rest of the night were mostly typical for the Dark Knight, mainly consisting of more patrols in the troublesome Bayside neighbourhood, stopping plenty of muggings, burglaries and breaking up drug rings, in addition to gaining more information on several cases he was working on in the process.

Before long, the Dark Knight was ready to return back to the Bat Cave and call it a night when the screen on the dashboard, reserved for video chat with members of the Bat family, began to flash red.

"Priority One Request from Penny One." The computer on the Batmobile announced as the screen flashes red repeatedly.

"Go ahead." Batman said, and as Alfred's face came into view, he added, "What is it, Alfred?"

"Master Wayne, I'm afraid we've got a situation here." The butler said. "Our two guests and Master Jason seemed to have vanished."

"Vanished?" Batman narrowed his eyes. "When?"

"Shortly after midnight, sir." Alfred replied as he rubbed the back of his head. "Our guests were tucked in for the night in the guest room, then I was about to turn Master Jason in for the night when I got knocked out cold by loose painting in the hallway."

Batman growled. "Jason."

"Must be so, sir." Alfred agreed. "He must've did something to the painting while I was escorting him and the guests to their rooms behind my back."

Then, with a sigh, the butler added, "After all these years of living under your wing, you would really think that Master Jason has curtailed his sneaky persona."

"Not your fault, Alfred." Batman said. "Is anything in the motor pool missing?"

"Only the '97 Corolla, sir." Alfred nodded. "I am transferred the GPS positioning map of the car to you as we speak."

As Alfred spoke, the live footage of him speaking from the BatComputer shrank in size with a map of Gotham City coming into view in the background, where a flashing red dot is pinpointing the exact location of the vehicle he was tracking earlier.

With a nod, Batman said, "Thanks, Alfred. I will take it from here."

"Of course, sir." Alfred nodded back. "Oh, and Master Batman?"

"What is it?" Batman asked.

"Try to talk Master Robin out of whatever he and our guests are about to do, sir." Alfred said. "And by talking him out of it, I meant not yelling or arguing at him in the process."

Batman only narrowed his eyes. "Noted. Batman out."

With that, Alfred's face disappeared from the screen, and the Dark Knight narrowed his eyes when he saw the location of the flashing red dot pinpointing the location of the '97 Corolla.

Wordlessly, the Caped Crusader pushed the accelerator further down as the Batmobile sped up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby and Jason were driving through the streets of the south end of town in the 1997 Corolla with Jason behind the wheel after a 30-minute drive on the Don Cameron.

Noting their dark surroundings, Shaggy and Scooby both swallowed.

"Like, you'd really think Fred and the girls would pick a sketchy place like here to hide out from the cops?" Shaggy asked as Jason pulled over onto the side of the road.

"It's not exactly ideal when you have the gangs infesting this part of town." Jason shrugged. "However, when you're on the run with trigger-happy officers from one of the most-corrupt police departments in the country up your tail, it's probably best to put up with the gangs here rather than deal with the f**kers that abuse their power."

"Right, right." Shaggy nodded thoughtfully as he looked out of the window.

In spite of the presence of condemned buildings nearby, all of which told the tale of a once-thriving community that has since fallen onto hard times and into a state of disrepair, the street was surprisingly quiet and deserted.

Noting their quiet surroundings, Shaggy turned towards Jason and asked, "Though wouldn't we be sitting ducks should some gang show up and think that we've got what they wanted?"

"Not with the way I've gotten us dressed up." Jason shook his head. "With all the makeup and street clothes we're wearing, we would look more like beggars or drug dealers from the Jets than weaklings that has something valuable to offer."

"But I hope that doesn't mean that..." Shaggy was about to continue when Jason revealed the utility belt he is wearing under his heavy metal T-shirt.

"When s**t goes down, Robin would know when to step in." Jason said. "And besides, I've got favours from a guy who used to wear the Robin uniform before moving to Blüdhaven."

"Dick Grayson?" Shaggy inquired.

Jason nodded. "He goes by Nightwing now, and he actually frequently moves between Blüdhaven and San Francisco, where he leads the Titans."

"Sounds like a busy schedule if you ask me." Shaggy remarked as he turned towards Scooby. "Like, Scoob and I can't even fly from Coolsville to here back and forth without having to deal with all the hassle involving air travel, such as limited food on board the flight."

Jason chuckled. "With such large appetites, I'm amazed that you and Scooby-Doo are still able to stay in shape, Shaggy."

Shaggy smiled, though the smile disappeared when Jason returned to seriousness.

"Either way, right now, we've got to figure out a way to track down and rescue your friends, guys." He said. "Because with those trigger-happy cops on your tail, you're practically having to choose between a rock and a hard place when it comes to hiding from them in a h*llhole like Gotham."

"I thought Coolsville is bad enough." Shaggy frowned.

"Coolsville may be the second most dangerous city in the country, but it's a distance second behind Gotham." Jason frowned.

"Should've figured." Shaggy nodded as he folded his arms. "Now, what do you suggest we do in trying to track down Fred and the girls, Jason? And with Batman expecting us to stay put at the manor, I'm sure he isn't gonna be happy when he finds us here."

"Which is where Nightwing comes in." Jason said as he gently placed a finger by his ear to activate an earpiece. "We can't let Batman be dragged into this mess while he's declared as an outlaw by that stooge Hamilton Hill, and given that Nightwing doesn't have the same shadow that follows him the same way Batman does in this city, I'm sure Dick would be happy to help us out."

* * *

Back in Coolsville, Wendy was ready to go to bed and she wasn't surprised one bit when she entered the bedroom and saw that Sam wasn't in bed like he always was by the time she was getting ready for bedtime.

She sighed as it was clear that the deputy chief still has a lot on his mind, and as she yawned and walked out of the bedroom door, she heard Sam talking on the phone in the living room.

By the time she climbed down the stairs and entered to the living room, Sam was finishing up his phone call.

"Greatly appreciate it, Frank." Sam nodded. "Tell the kids and the old man that I've said hi."

Another pause went by before the deputy chief said, "Take care."

Upon hanging up the phone, Sam sighed before he looked up and saw Wendy standing at the doorway to the living room.

"How's Frank doing?" Wendy asked as she walked towards her husband and sat down at the sofa.

"Oh, you know, just the usual stuff that comes with his position as PC." Sam shrugged. "He called to check up on us after seeing the news from both here and Gotham, and he wanted to let us know that he would continue to support us in any way through this crisis. In addition, the old man's doing well for his age, and the kids are doing just fine."

"Glad to hear." Wendy agreed with a smile. "Frank's quite the piece of work. Coming from a family of cops, he sure lives up to the expectations that comes with the job, and it's great to see his children following his footsteps in law enforcement."

"I'll say." Sam replied. "Quite a shame that this is an occupation that comes with severe risks, as Joe had found out the hard way."

In Sam's mentioning Frank, Wendy know that he was referring to NYPD Commissioner Francis "Frank" Reagan, who was partnered with Sam back when they were assigned to the homicide table at the 32nd Precinct.

Their partnership began shortly after Sam returned home from the Gulf War, where the captain assigned him to be partnered with the then-Sergeant Frank Reagan, or the "Reagan kid" as the captain puts it.

Like many in the department back then, Sam was deeply aware of Frank Reagan's connections to 1 Police Plaza, namely as the son of the then-police commissioner Henry Reagan.

There were rumours that the then-Sergeant Reagan got to where he was as a result of favouritism from his PC father, and Sam was among the officers that believed those rumours.

However, as Sam and Frank began to work a number of cases together in the early days of their partnership, Sam began to harbour respect towards Frank, figuring that Frank himself had worked extra hard to get to where he was.

Frank was the one who mentored Sam in their investigation techniques, and as Sam began to build a solid reputation as an sharp-minded investigator in his own right, he has cited Frank as his biggest influence, particularly in his methods of interrogating suspects.

The two men also bonded through their shared service in the Marine Corps, even though Frank served in Vietnam while Sam served in the Gulf War.

It was also through his partnership with Frank Reagan that led Sam to his then-future wife Wendy Amon, after they caught a fraud case that was only closed as a result of Wendy's expertise as a forensic accountant.

Following that case, it was Frank, by then married with children of his own, who recommended Sam to ask Wendy out, having had noticed the chemistry Sam shared with Wendy during the case.

 _And the rest is history_. Sam thought to himself as he glanced at a family photo of him, Wendy, their two children and Scooby.

Having had developed a close bond with the Reagans, Sam was a guest of honour in their Sunday dinners a number of occasions.

And as things turns out, Sam's connections with the Reagans dated even before his birth.

His father, Clarence Fitzgerald Rogers, served together with Henry Reagan during the Second World War and the Korean War before the latter joined the NYPD.

With such close family ties, it didn't take much to figure out why Sam asked Frank to be his best man at his wedding.

Although their partnership lasted for only three years, ending when Sam was promoted to Sergeant and transferred to the 18th Precinct while Frank was promoted to Lieutenant and transferred to another unit, Frank's influence left quite the impression on Sam as he himself began to mentor younger detectives.

From time to time, whenever Sam encounters some difficulties with a case, he would always phone Frank for advice.

It was Frank who was one of the very few cops that Sam opened up to regarding the circumstances that led to his transfer from Coolsville, and when Sam confided about his transfer back to Coolsville, Frank, then the captain in charge of the NYPD's Special Investigations Unit, wished him luck.

"Good luck in that h*llhole, Sam." Sam recalled Frank patting him in the shoulder that day. "You're gonna need it."

"Thanks, Frank." He remembered replying in response. "I sure as h*ll am gonna need it."

On his last guest appearance at the Reagan Sunday family dinner, Henry was the one that proposed a toast to Sam, where the Reagans collectively wished Sam the best of luck in Coolsville.

Even as Sam and his family moved back to Coolsville, he and the Reagans continued to keep in touch, with Sam himself also following the careers of Frank's three sons as they all followed their father and grandfather's footsteps in joining the NYPD.

Sam also remembered the somber occasion when he learned about Joe's death two years ago, and he remembered taking the day off from work in order to fly to New York and attend the regimental funeral in his full service dress uniform.

"Yeah." Wendy sighed as she remembered that somber occasion. "Anyways, it's good to hear from Frank as we face what you can say is one of the toughest situations we've ever dealt with, dear."

"Tell me about it." Sam nodded as he turned towards his wife.

However, before he could continue, the telephone rang again and the deputy chief sighed as he reached over and answered.

"Yeah, Captain." Sam barked as Captain Spears' name appeared on the caller ID. "What is it?"

A pause went by before Sam sighed and asked, "Is that right?"

Another pause went by, then the deputy chief sighed again before saying, "Hold that thought."

Sam then covered the mouthpiece with his left hand and turned towards Wendy, who arched her eyebrows.

"Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight, dear." Sam said.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	17. More damage control and revelations

Chapter 17: More damage control, a prank call and more revelations

Meanwhile, over at the Coolsville Don Messick Memorial Hospital, Detectives Welker and Steven were pacing back and forth at the hallway outside the ICU room in which Alex Carter was being treated at.

As the two detectives walked past the nearby window, Welker leaned forward and looked towards the ground, where even in the darkness, it was clear that the hospital entrance was packed with reporters trying to get the scope in the latest development of the bone case.

It was a development Welker wished he had seen coming, and he shuddered as he remembered receiving the call from Carter's lawyer minutes earlier about Carter being sent to the ICU following a suicide attempt.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Detective." Welker remembered the lawyer saying in anger over the phone. "Smearing my client's good name through the press, he's in the hospital after what your people had done to him, and now he's in ICU, to be placed under suicide watch should he recover. Happy now?"

As the lawyer's words echoed through his mind, Steven glanced towards the window and remarked, "S**t. The media sure are having quite the field day, huh?"

"Won't I know it." Welker grumbled as he paced back and forth. "I sure as h*ll wish we had seen this one coming."

"Nothing we can't do about it right now, partner." Steven said.

The two detectives then paused from their pacing when they saw the lawyer emerging from the ICU.

As the lawyer took off his mask, the duo can see the anger on his face and both knew what was up.

Turning towards the two detectives, the lawyer huffed as he took off his reading glasses.

For a while, there was some silence between the three men, then the lawyer said, "I just finish speaking to the doctors. There wasn't a d*mn thing they could do to save my client's life following the suicide attempt."

With a glare, the lawyer continued, "Is this how you people do your job? Leaking my client's record to the press, tip off those gun-toting officers to beat the stuffing out of him and then drag his name through the mud?"

"Mr. Raitt, you will be surprised that I agree with that accusation wholeheartedly." Welker stepped in. "However, if you're looking to demand that the party responsible be held accountable for your client's death, I would suggest that you-"

"Don't you dare tell me how I should do my job, Detective!" Raitt snapped. "Thanks to your negligence and lack of diligence in keeping my client's name from getting dragged through the sewer, I sure as h*ll have a lot to explain to his family when they fly in from Chicago."

Raitt was about to continue when their attention was drawn towards several footsteps approaching them, and the trio turned and saw Deputy Chief Sam Rogers marching down the hallway.

Immediately, the two detectives stiffened while Raitt drew in a breath.

"Gentlemen." Sam said in greeting as he addressed the two detectives.

"Deputy Chief." Welker greeted back. "We just got the news from Mr. Raitt, Carter's lawyer."

"And I take it that it's not good." Sam said as he eyed Raitt, who had turned his attention towards him as he spoke. "You gentlemen stand down, I will speak with Mr. Raitt in the meantime."

Turning to face Welker, Sam continued, "I want the two of you to come to my office for the briefing at 8:00 sharp first thing tomorrow morning, and not a minute late. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Welker and Stevens both nodded before they were dismissed.

After the two detectives were dismissed, Sam turned towards Mr. Raitt, who clearly wasn't looking impressed one bit.

"Deputy Chief Sam Rogers, I presume?" Mr. Raitt asked.

"Yes, I am, Counsellor." Sam nodded.

"I understand that you are leading a task force dedicated to investigating what led to yesterday night's events, am I right?" Raitt asked.

"Affirmative." Sam replied. "And I can assure you that Detectives Welker and Stevens had nothing to do with the leak."

"I was more hoping that you would be holding your officers accountable for their actions with meaningful action and policy instead of plain window-dressing." Raitt folded his arms. 'Because the negligence in your department is what killed my client, and-"

"Mr. Raitt, I would like to assure you that my task force and I are dedicated to getting the bottom of the case." Sam said firmly as he stepped forward towards Raitt. "However, you barking up the wrong tree with your accusations would only serve to do more harm than good in getting to the bottom of this case."

"Well, what are you suggesting that I do then, Deputy Chief?" Raitt demanded. "Your department's negligence is responsible for my client's death, and I don't intend to let that slide as long as the party responsible remains on duty."

Sam simply glared at the lawyer as he studied the man, and there was some silence between the two men as they stared at each other.

The deputy chief then noticed the way Raitt was staring at him, perhaps to study his hair style, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Something you would like to add, Counsellor?" Sam asked.

"How long have you been on the force, Deputy Chief Rogers?" Raitt asked.

Sam was briefly taken aback by the question, though he quickly recovered and said, "Almost thirty years, sixteen of which was spent at New York."

It was Raitt's turn to arch his eyebrows. "You're not a native of Coolsville?"

"Actually, I got my badge here in '84, though I got transferred to New York barely a year later." Sam said.

Then, seeing the look of expectation on Raitt's face, Sam continued, "As for how I came to end up at the Big Apple in '85, Counsellor, well, long story short, I was involved in a shooting death, though the person I shot and killed was my former training officer and her husband."

"Your former training officer." Raitt repeated. "Whatever for?"

"My partner and I caught them in the Docklands illegally raiding a warehouse and stealing cargo, plus I shot them in self-defence when they tried to stop me from reporting them." Sam said. "But anyways, after the shooting, my captain arranged for my transfer for fear of me blowing the whistle that could bring him and others like him down."

Raitt nodded thoughtfully as Sam related the story, during which the deputy chief added, "And for your information, the captain in charge of the Harbor Division back then was one Lou Strickland."

"One h*ll of a sorry excuse of a police chief we had." Raitt nodded. "He and his predecessor are the exact reasons why your department has been facing all of these wrongful death lawsuits from civil rights attorneys lately, on top of accusations of corruption."

"Yes, and that is gonna continue unless someone in the department steps up and takes the necessary action needed to reform it." Sam said. "As you know, meaningful change is typically effective when it's made from within an organization."

"And you're the man who's been trying to do it." Raitt looked at Sam.

"Since that shooting at the Docklands in '85, I've already promised myself that when I return, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to clean this city up, however long it's gonna take me." Sam added. "Getting to the bottom of your client's death is gonna be one of them, I can assure you, Counsellor."

"Right, then." Raitt nodded. "In that case, you better get on with your work and fast, Deputy Chief, because a lot of the victims of police brutality and corruption of your department are waiting far too long for justice to be carried out, myself and my late client included."

Sam nodded before he turned away and took his leave without another word.

* * *

Back in Gotham City, Shaggy and Scooby were looking on as Robin's call was connected, and Boy Wonder wasted no time explaining the situation to Nightwing, who sighed as Robin asked him to do something that, as he puts it, could help buy more time for him and their visitors.

"I understand that this isn't your style, Dick." Robin was speaking through the earpiece. "But I'm sure you understand how much fuss Bruce is gonna put up."

Nightwing sighed at the other end of the line, but he nodded. "I'll see what I can do, Jason. Don't make me regret this."

"Appreciate it, Dick." Jason nodded back.

"Say, are you with someone right now?" Nightwing asked, and Robin immediately glanced at Shaggy and Scooby.

"Don't worry, it's just those two visitors from Coolsville that I mentioned earlier, Dick." Jason quickly said. "They both know."

"Visitors from Coolsville, huh?" Dick nodded thoughtfully. "I won't be surprised if it's the leader and the brains of Mystery Inc. that are in the Corolla with you, Jaybird."

"Well, actually, it's the other guy and his dog that are in the Corolla with me." Jason said.

"The two walking appetites?" Dick chuckled. "Now that's unexpected."

Jason chuckled as well before Dick continued, "Either way, let's get going before we waste all night sorting this out."

"Of course." Robin nodded. "Robin out."

After closing the connection, Robin exhaled before he turned towards Shaggy and Scooby, who were looking at him with their eyebrows raised.

"Long story short, Nightwing has agreed to help us out in keeping Batman occupied while we continue the search for your friends." Robin said.

"Like, wouldn't Batman be able to trace whatever you're suggesting back to Nightwing?" Shaggy asked.

"Nightwing's no longer working _for_ Batman." Jason deadpanned. "Batman can't simply order him around, and even if he could, Nightwing's smart enough to fake the traces of what I've suggested to someone else."

"Rounds like you're rasking rim to put re blame on someone rho may not have anything to do rith ris." Scooby piped up.

"Not to worry." Jason said. "In fact, someone's about to get a nasty wake-up visit from Batman right about now."

Shaggy and Scooby glanced at each other before the former asked, "What did Nightwing do?"

Before Jason could reply, he received an incoming transmission alert from Titans Tower, and he promptly answered.

"How'd it go, Dick?" Jason asked in greeting, during which he heard laughter in the background and added, "What's so funny?"

"Better than expected." Dick replied on the other end. "And let's just say that Rupert Throne is about to get a very nasty wake-up call, courtesy of Batman."

"What did you do to get Bruce off our trail, Dick?" Jason asked.

Shaggy and Scooby looked on as Jason nodded understandingly and asked, "Ah, is that right?"

"Isn't that exactly what you've asked me to do, Jaybird?" Dick retorted.

"Oh, well." Jason shrugged. "I didn't really expect you to prank call Bruce and fake the traces to Rupert Throne's penthouse."

"Just make sure you're still around when Bruce figures out that you were the one that asked me to pose as Throne and prank call him." Dick said.

"Yeah, sure." Jason rolled his eyes. "Either way, thanks for the help, Dick."

"Anytime." Dick nodded. "Take care and be careful out there."

"I will." Jason nodded back. "Robin out."

As soon as Jason disconnected, Shaggy spoke up.

"Like, Scoob and I must've heard this wrong." Shaggy said. "You didn't just ask Nightwing to pose as Throne and prank call Batman."

"I just did." Jason shrugged. "Are you worried about the Big Bad Bat?"

"Oh, that's just the least of my worries." Shaggy said. "I mean, you guys just actually prank called Batman?"

Before Jason could reply, Shaggy exclaimed, "That's pretty wicked! Like, it's a good thing you guys use your mind for the forces of good, or otherwise we're pretty much screwed, aren't we?"

"Yeah, good thing, Shag." Jason nodded. "I'm sure you don't wanna know what Batman said to Nightwing when he received the prank call."

"You've got that right, Jason." Shaggy agreed. "But anyways, we better get to work now before Batman figures this out."

* * *

By the time the clock hit 7:55 that morning, over at Coolsville, Detectives Welker, Steven, Wilkins and Chan, Sergeants Butler and Hughes and Lieutenants Deedle and McCormick were already seated in the small conference room near Deputy Chief Sam Rogers' office at Coolsville Central.

With the developments from the previous night, it was clear that the tension in the room can be cut with a knife as the group awaited for the deputy chief to arrive at the meeting.

"You guys didn't slept much last night, huh?" Hughes asked his old partner as they awaited for Sam to arrive.

"Not much, Nat." Welker shook his head.

"Neither did Linda and I." Butler added as Wilkins nodded in agreement. "Especially after we found items on the Internal Affairs files that can certainly lead to s**t hitting the fan."

Chan frowned in confusion at the phrase. "How can you have s**t hitting the fan when all we have are Internal Affairs files, Butler? For that to happen, we need some actual s**t and a fan."

"It's just a figure of speech, Charlie." Hughes explained.

"Yes, it means things are going to get bad really quickly." Steven added.

Before Chan could respond, Sam stormed right into the conference room with a file folder in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other, and everyone in the room immediately turned towards the deputy chief.

"Update." Sam demanded as he turned his glare towards Butler and Wilkins.

Chan and Hughes glanced at each other as Butler proceeded to open up the file on the table as Sam took a sip of his coffee. Through the deputy chief's puffy eyes, it was clear to everyone in the conference room that he didn't get much sleep the night before.

"We've managed to obtain the IA files as you've asked, sir." Butler began. "Detective Hughes and I combed through them through the night, and we've tabulated the list of infractions that were the nature of the complaints IA received in the specified period."

"And?" Sam pressed as he put on his reading glasses while Wilkins handed him a copy of a table and a graph she and Butler had produced.

"As you can see, sir, this graph shows that the number of complaints handled by IA began to spike in 1994, peaked in 2002 and has remained steadily high since then in spite of the drop a year later." Wilkins explained. "Curiously enough, the number of files that were deemed 'resolved' began to trend downward starting in 2002."

Sam frowned at the explanation as he read the graph, then he took off his reading glasses before looking at the detective.

"Curious trend, isn't it?" Wilkins asked.

"More than curious." McCormick replied. "The trend began not long after Deputy Chief Rupert Gosnell was appointed as the deputy chief in charge of IA."

"Not surprised." Sam nodded in agreement. "Anything else, Detective?"

"The nature of misconduct subjected in the complaints, Chief." Wilkins replied.

"Excessive use-of force." Butler added. "Coupled with violation of constitutional rights and false arrests. These were the nature of misconducts that have been trending high since Gosnell took charge of IA in '02."

"Hmm." Sam grunted as he flipped through the pages summarizing the findings.

The others at the table looked on as Sam's eyes narrowed, then the deputy chief looked up, the frown on his face darkening.

"You all do realize that once this comes to light, it's only gonna add fuel to the fire, eh?" Sam asked as he gestured at the file in front of him.

"We are all well aware of that, Chief." Hughes nodded.

"What this report is suggesting is that the department's Internal Affairs has been disproportionately handling complaints of misconduct on the basis of race." Sam said.

"Yes, sir." Butler nodded. "As you see, much of IAs files in which the subject making the complaint is black or Latino have a higher proportion of being considered 'resolved' in which the officer subjected to the complaint was cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to duty."

"Hmm." Sam grunted as he stopped at one particular page and added, "Inflating the number of 'resolved' cases to provide an impression of IA working diligently in taking those complaints seriously, cases that were supposed to be considered as 'unresolved' due to the complaint not satisfied about the way the investigation was handled, no doubt."

The deputy chief then glanced at the pages before continuing, "A number of names have stood out in your reports here. Captain Steve Garland, Sergeant Nancy McDonnell, Sergeant Jamie Paxton, Detective Larry O'Shea and Detective Kevin Hinkerson."

Sam's eyes then narrowed as he added, "These names look familiar."

"You've reviewed their case files before, sir?" Deedle asked.

"Not exactly." Sam shook his head. "This goes even deeper than that."

He then glanced at Krebs and then added, "Mark, I will need you to make a quick phone call to District Attorney Jones' office about the reports from the audits I've requested."

"Yes, sir." Krebs nodded.

"Something to do with the audit on IA's activities you've requested the DA's office to conduct, Chief?" Welker asked.

"Not just that, Detective Welker." Sam replied. "If this is what I think it is, then couple this with another discovery that I intend to keep under wraps until I get a better lay of the land, and this whole mess just got a whole lot messier."

"As in s**t is about to hit the fan, Deputy Chief Rogers?" Chan piped up.

Sam turned towards Chan and looked at him weirdly, during which Chan added, "It's just a figure of speech, isn't it?"

The deputy chief glanced at the others, who all shrugged in response.

"Something like that, Detective Chan." Sam said. "But anyways, keep all of this under your hats until we all have a better lay of the land on what's on stake here, because if my suspicions are confirmed, then this is gonna shake things up, not just here in Central, but also at City Hall."

Looking at everyone in attendance, Sam then added, "Understood?"

"Yes, sir." The response was unanimous.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


End file.
